Our Greatest Acting Challenge
by elliefaucet
Summary: Rachel never should've been late for Freshman Orientation at WMHS. But then again, if she hadn't, she might never have met the most important person in her life.
1. Girl Of The Year

_"Stand clear she's the girl of the year_

_and there's no use in trying_

_to get her off my mind."_

**Prologue: Part 1**

If I hadn't come in late to Freshman Orientation, none of this ever would've happened.

Normally I'm always on time, and even early, but not that day. Because that was the day the world decided to stop and spin in another direction. And it just so happens that when the world was stopped, my dads' car wouldn't start.

When I finally burst into the auditorium after running the mile or so from my house, I didn't even have time to take in the glory of the stage in which I would hopefully be spending most of my time during the next four years on. No, I was late, and a scared little freshman, so I just slid into the back row beside a blonde girl.

Had I not been late, I probably would've sat on the front row, far away from the girl with the blonde hair. But the world was spinning in her direction now, and I was caught.

"Hi, Rachel Berry," I whispered, introducing myself and offering up my hand for a handshake.

She didn't speak for a moment, but looked at me with brilliant hazel eyes, questioning whether she should respond. Ultimately, she took my hand and said, "Quinn Fabray."

"Are you new here? I don't remember seeing you before?" I asked, knowing I would remember those eyes if I saw them even for just a second in my past.

"Aren't we all new here?" And for the first time she smirked what would become known as the trademark Quinn Fabray smirk.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered, and I was lost for words, which never happened. So I looked forward and tried to concentrate on what the speaker, whoever it was, was saying. Except the sound system was obviously lacking and I couldn't hear a thing. When I sang on that stage, I was going to make sure every single person could hear me.

"But yeah, I just moved here," she stated, trying to draw me back into the conversation. That was a first. No one really wanted to continue a conversation with me; everyone usually just tried to get out of it as soon as possible.

"That would explain why you're sitting back here by yourself," I said, thinking aloud.

"I'm not by myself, in case you haven't noticed," she replied. I looked around to make sure there was no one else on the other side of her. Nope. Was she crazy? Had I accidentally sat beside a nutcase?

"I hate to disappoint you, but it seems the people you were previously sitting with have vacated their seats," I rambled, unable to control the words as they spewed from my mouth. "Thus, you're by yourself now."

"Do you not count as a person?" she questioned. "I mean, you are a bit short, but still…"

"I am not short!" I cried, and she grinned.

"Whatever you say," she replied, rolling her beautiful eyes. "Looks like it's over." She gestured to our class all simultaneously standing up and shuffling toward the exit near us.

"I was told that there would be a tour of the high school, followed by locker registrations," I explained, getting up as well.

"Why don't we go on our own tour?" she suggested. I could've said no. Everything in me was telling myself to say no, you don't know this girl, she could be a serial killer.

But she was pretty and I found myself saying, "Sure."

Damn those eyes.

* * *

What was I doing?

I should've been on the tour, befriending all the future cheerleaders. Yet here I was, lost with one Rachel Berry, who was most definitely not the cheerleader type.

This was not part of the plan.

"So tell me about yourself?" I asked, just to keep her from asking about me. There was nothing to tell, really. Well, nothing I was willing to tell a complete stranger.

"I absolutely love being on the stage. One day I'm going to be on Broadway. I've been training since birth for it. My dads have made sure of that-"

But I cut her off there. "Dads? As in plural?"

"Yes, I have two gay dads. Does that bother you?" she questioned, suddenly getting defensive and up in my face, well, as far up in my face as she could get. I held my hands up in surrender and took a step back. She was way too close.

"Not at all. I'm gay, actually." Shit. Why did I just tell her that. No one was supposed to know that. Why why why why why- "So gay dads. Check. Broadway. Check. Anything else?"

"My idol is Barbra Streisand. Everything is better bedazzled. Oh, and I am joining the Glee club here as soon as possible so I will be able to showcase my talents," she spouted one random topic after another.

"You forgot to mention that you talk like there's no tomorrow," I teased her as we turned onto a new hallway that looked as unfamiliar as the one we had just been on.

"You asked!" she cried. "And no one ever asks." She muttered that last part to the floor, probably hoping I wouldn't hear her, but I did.

"Obviously you haven't met very many decent people," I replied quietly.

"I think I scare them off," she admitted, still speaking to the floor.

"Well you don't have to worry about me. I'm not going anywhere," I stated, and she finally looked at me.

And I died a little bit.

The happiness in those brown eyes was so pure and innocent, and I couldn't help but smile.

That was the first time I realized I could very easily fall in love with her if I wasn't careful.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," she murmured.

"But I intend on keeping it," I replied. "You're stuck with me, Berry."

She giggled at this and looped her arm through mine. "Let's go, then. We probably need to find the others."

"How?" I asked. "We've been walking around and still haven't found them."

"Quinn?"

"Hm?"

"We've been walking up and down the same hall for the past ten minutes," she smirked at me.

"Obviously I had other things on my mind," I stated.

"Like what? How to escape from me without injury?" she questioned.

"Didn't I just tell you that you're stuck with me?" I reminded her.

"So what then?" You. Your eyes. Your smile. Your laugh. How wonderful you must sound when you sing.

But of course I couldn't tell her _that. _And then I remembered that we had just met and I didn't have to tell her anything.

"Look! It's the others." I pointed out when we reached the end of the hall. We quietly slipped into the crowd of students, her all the while holding onto me.

"Quinn Fabray don't think you're getting off that easy," she whispered when we were at the back of the crowd.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

**Song: Girl of the Year- FM Static**


	2. She's Got You High

_"She's got you high_

_and you don't even know yet."_

**Prologue: Part 2**

The first day of school seemed to take forever to get here. In reality, it was only a week after orientation, but for me it was a year. A year without Quinn.

Quinn. My first real friend. I spent my week planning out various sleepovers and after school activities we could do together. There were so many years to make up for, that I just had to do everything. We would of course have to have a musical marathon. But wait. What if Quinn didn't like musicals?

That's when I realized I didn't know much about her at all, even though she knew pretty much everything about me. Me and my big mouth, not allowing her to get a word in about herself. I was determined to find out something, anything about her when we finally went to school.

That's why I marched straight up to her at her locker on the first day of school and asked, "Do you like musicals?"

She seemed taken aback by it, and I realized I should've said hello before bombarding her with my questions. "I guess?"

"What do you mean you guess?" I questioned. "It's kind of a yes or no question."

She sighed. "Asking if I like musicals is like asking if I like movies or music. It's a broad term, Rach."

"So you like them. Okay we can be friends," I said with relief. Wait did I really just say that? Was I really five years old and dictating whether we can be friends?

She laughed. "Nice to know. By the way, good morning, since you didn't bother with that earlier."

"Good morning!" I could feel my face burning. "Sorry, it was bothering me all week that I didn't know a thing about you."

"You could've just texted me. I gave you my number." Oh. I really was a moron. A complete moron. She put her number in my phone right before we left orientation. I could've texted her. I could've asked her more questions. WE COULD'VE HUNG OUT.

"It must've slipped my- oh we should probably get to homeroom now!" I cried, trying to get out of this. She rolled her eyes and followed along behind me. Thankfully our last names were close enough in the alphabet that we got to share the same homeroom.

"I'm letting you off the hook this time, because you didn't press me for my answer at orientation, but you shouldn't be afraid to text me," she whispered into my ear as we walked into our first high school classroom. I felt shivers go through my entire body as I realized her proximity to me. Then she was gone and I could breathe again. I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath.

She took the seat behind me, as I knew she would. She just seemed like the person that would whisper stuff into my ear to try to get me to laugh out loud in class. And that's how it was later on.

For a while.

* * *

That afternoon, she invited me over.

Had I been listening during homeroom instead of talking to her, I might have heard cheerleader tryouts were that afternoon. Had I been listening during orientation instead of talking to her, I might have heard about them then as well. But the fact was she waltzed in and smashed all my other priorities to the ground. She was the shining star in my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

What I hadn't told her, though, is that I was friendless before her as well. It may have been selfish of me, but that part of my life was gone. Lucy was gone and Rachel never needed to meet her. Quinn was here to stay.

"Quinn?" Her voice brought me out of my musings, and I realized I was sitting on her couch in her living room. How did I get here? Last thing I remembered was getting on the bus with her.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to watch a musical?" she questioned, sitting on the floor surrounded by dvd cases.

"Oh. Sure," I replied, still a bit dazed. Was I really so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice us getting off the bus and walking into her house?

"Is Funny Girl alright with you? I know you said you don't like some musicals so if you don't like it-"

"I've never actually seen Funny Girl." Her mouth dropped. "What?"

"It's only my favorite movie of all time," she replied, putting the movie in.

"Then I guess I better like it," I stated as she joined me on the couch.

"If you don't, then I'm sorry but I won't ever talk to you again," she said, and the overture started.

"Wouldn't that be a blessing?" I asked, and she playfully shoved me. My heart was going to burst with happiness. "Is the picture broken? Shouldn't there be opening credits or something?"

"While most overtures do usually accompany the opening credits, this one doesn't. It's supposed to be like that," she confirmed.

"Are you sure I haven't just gone blind?" I teased.

"Quinn Fabray if you don't shut up and enjoy this beautiful overture I'll-" But she stopped.

"You'll what?" I smirked. I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say.

"I won't let you have any of the wonderful cookies my father is making!" I felt myself deflate a little. Of course she wouldn't threaten to shut me up with a kiss. That was just a stupid thought. She was probably straight, after all.

"Okay, Rach, you win," I said, but in reality I won because after that she snuggled up next to me and rested her head on my shoulder for the duration of the movie.

I am pretty sure she went to sleep after Don't Rain On My Parade, which made it even harder to watch the movie. My mind just kept saying over and over, "Holy shit, this gorgeous girl that you may or may not like, and let's face it, you do, is asleep on your shoulder and her arm is draped over your stomach and remember to breathe! Breathe Fabray, BREATHE!"

I really hoped Rachel didn't quiz me on the movie at the end, because I honestly didn't know if I could tell her much about it.

* * *

Quinn is the best pillow. If you can get over the breathing irregularities and the intoxicating smell of her hair, then you're in for the best sleep of your life. Never before had I felt so at home and protected than I did when I napped on her shoulder during Funny Girl. I hadn't planned on falling asleep at first, but as time went on I just felt so relaxed that I couldn't help but drift off.

When I woke up during the credits, the first thing I remember seeing were hazel eyes. I doubt they were actually the first, but it's all I remember. Damn those eyes.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead," she smiled at me, and I could feel myself lazily smiling back, staring into those eyes.

"Sorry to go to sleep on you," I said, sitting up. The warmth and protection and peace vanished at once.

"It's fine. As long as I get to sleep on you when we watch my favorite musical," Quinn replied.

"What's your favorite musical?" I questioned.

She thought for a minute and then smirked. "Maybe one day I'll tell you."

"That's not fair! You know mine!" I cried.

"All's fair in love and war," she reminded me.

"So which is this? Love or war?" And now it was my turn to smirk.

"Probably a bit of both." I sighed. Was I ever going to get a straight answer out of her? "Now didn't you mention something before about cookies?"

* * *

**Song: She's Got You High- Mumm-Ra**


	3. For You To Notice

_"But for now I'll look so longingly_

_waiting…_

_for you to want me, for you to need me_

_for you to notice me."_

**Prologue: Part 3**

For the next couple of weeks, we coasted through school. I had missed cheerleader tryouts, and Rachel wasn't barging down the glee club's door to join. Our grades weren't as good as they could be, because as much as we hung out we still couldn't manage to study together. Yet somehow we were okay with all of that, because we had something more. We had each other, and that was more than enough at the moment.

Two days after we watched Funny Girl, I heard her sing for the first time. It was so so beautiful, and the worst part is, she wasn't even trying. She was just quietly singing to herself as we waited for homeroom to start.

"That was amazing," I whispered in her ear once she had finished. She turned around and gave me one of the most dazzling smiles, and I swear my heart stopped for a second.

I decided then and there to do whatever it took to see that smile many more times.

The first football game of the season arrived in October, and Rachel wanted to go for some reason. So of course I took her, even though I would have to see exactly what I was missing out on by choosing Rachel over cheerleading. I wasn't worried at all that I made the wrong decision, I just didn't want to see what could've been. But I didn't tell her. She didn't have to know that.

My mom dropped us off there, since neither one of us were old enough to drive at the time. Afterwards, we were going to walk to Rachel's and have a sleepover. She seemed really excited about all of this when we stepped out of the car. She was bouncing on her heels.

"Rach, calm down," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder so maybe she would stop bouncing up and down. It didn't really help.

"I can't! We're going to a football game! We're having a sleepover!" she cried, beaming at me. I figured I could put up with extremely ecstatic Rachel if she was always smiling like that. "Come on let's go get seats!" She grabbed my hand and took off running, pulling me along behind.

I shouldn't have worried about the cheerleading thing. Rachel held my attention for the entire game. Whether she was rambling about everything to me or intently watching the game, my eyes never left her. She was absolutely adorable.

Except one time she caught me.

"Quinn are you even watching the game?" she questioned, and I realized she was directing words at me and I would have to answer.

"What?" I asked, not having a clue as to what she had said.

"Game? Are you watching it?"

"Why would I? It's so much more entertaining to watch you watching the game. You have the most adorable facial expressions." Shit. Did I really just say that?

But it brought upon my favorite Rachel Berry smile so I was okay.

* * *

That night was the night everything changed.

It was the night I realized why the world started spinning in a different direction on the day of Freshman Orientation.

Because that was the day I started liking Quinn. Sure, I thought it was friendship at first. I had never had a friend before, so how was I to know the difference?

But then the night of the football game, when I looked into those hazel eyes that hadn't left me all night, it hit me like a freight train.

I was falling for Quinn Fabray.

"Rachel, are you okay?" asked Quinn, waving her hand in front of my face. I turned to her questioningly.

"I'm perfectly fine," I replied, trying my best to keep my tone calm. "Why do you ask?"

"You kind of just spaced out," she stated, her face filled with worry. "And you were so into the game before."

"I guess I was just thinking."

"Want to enlighten me on what it was about?"

No. Not at all. "Are you ready to go? I'm kind of tired."

She looked at me in confusion. "But there's still a whole quarter left, and you were so excited."

"Quinn please," I begged. I couldn't just sit there for another quarter and pretend that nothing was wrong. Everything was wrong. I was falling for my best friend! My only friend!

"Okay," was all she said as she stood up and led the way down and out. I bit my lip and told myself time and time again not to look at her ass, but it was THERE.

When we were on the road, she turned to me. "Should I go home?"

"Do you want to go home?" I asked. She could tell. She could totally tell and she was going to walk away and never talk to me again and I would be stuck in that school alone just like middle school and-

"Not really, you just seem distant."

"I've got a lot on my mind," I replied quietly, not looking at her. I couldn't look in those eyes. They would make me spill everything.

We started slowly walking down the road that would lead us to my house. "That's another thing. You always tell me what's on your mind. Why are you silent now?"

"Maybe I've decided you should let me in your mind sometime, instead of always being inside mine," I countered.

"Rach…" But I didn't say anything. I wasn't giving in. Not this time.

The walk home was long and quiet. Neither of us were willing to break the silence, though I really really wanted to.

When we got inside, I knew I had to say something. She was just way too stubborn. "Do you wanna watch a movie?"

"I thought you were tired," was her response. I sighed.

Were sleepovers normally this difficult?

* * *

**Song: For You to Notice- Dashboard Confessional**


	4. Catch Me

_"If this is love please don't break me,_

_I'm giving up so just_

_catch me."_

**Prologue: Part 5**

She knows she knows she knows.

She's acting all weird because she knows I like her but she won't say it.

Of course it had to have been obvious after staring at her the entire football game. That was a genius move, Quinn.

"Here's some pajamas," Rachel threw clothes at me and I only just caught them. She then fled from the room to what I assumed was her bathroom.

When she came back, we had both changed. Then, just as silently as the walk, we got into bed.

After a while, I knew I had to say something. I could tell she wasn't asleep, and there was no way I could sleep. If we left things the way they were, I didn't know if we would ever talk again. "Rachel."

She turned over to face me. Shit, I didn't know if I could do this while looking at her. "I'm listening."

"There's a reason why I never tell you what's on my mind," I stated, carefully choosing each word.

"And what's that?" she questioned.

"Because, and don't freak out okay? Because you're the only thing on my mind," the words tumbled out before I could stop them.

A smirk formed on Rachel's face. Well, it was better than I expected. "You shouldn't be afraid to tell me that."

"You don't get it, you're on my mind because I like you as more than a friend maybe and…"

"And that's fine," she finished.

"You're not going to tell me to leave?" I sat up then. She was taking this way too easily.

"Why would I do that?" she asked, smiling gently at me. "Come here." She opened up her arms for me to fall into.

I just told her I like her and she's offering to cuddle with me? What was going on?

With her curled against me, I was able to sleep.

* * *

She may have slept, but I was up way past that. I don't know if I even went to sleep at all that night.

What was I going to do? I mean, I liked Quinn, but I wasn't gay. Was I? I had never really thought about it, even being brought up the way I was. Come to think of it, I hadn't really thought about relationships at all. I figured my first goal should be to obtain friends, and worry about romantic interests later. But that later had snuck up on me, and it was now.

Maybe I didn't have to have a label right away. Or ever.

Okay, we had one issue taken care of. Now onto the next one.

Quinn. She liked me back. Except she was my best friend. If things somehow went badly, I would be left with no one. Was it worth the risk?

When I really thought about it, I already knew the answer.

I was falling, and there was no way back to the top.

The next morning, the shrill ringing of Quinn's cell phone woke us up. Guess I did get at least some sleep that night. I heard her groan, and then she answered.

"Hello?" she mumbled sleepily. "No, I wasn't still asleep, it's only seven on a Saturday, after all… I'll be home in a couple hours, plenty of time to get ready for lunch… Well then you should turn around because I'm going back to sleep… Fine." She hung up the phone and rolled her eyes. That's when she noticed I was sitting up, taking in her every move. "Mom's on her way. Sorry if I woke you up."

"It's okay, I didn't get much sleep anyway," I replied. Why did I tell her that? She's going to think I didn't enjoy cuddling with her, which I did. Immensely. "Too much to think about."

"Really? It was probably the best sleep I've had in a while," she admitted, smiling slightly.

"Quinn, I think we need to talk…" I started, but she wouldn't let me finish.

"We do, but not right now. I have to go," she said, grabbing her clothes off the ground and slipping into her shoes. She ran her fingers through her loose hair, as if it would help her adorable bed head any. "See you Monday." And then she was out of my room before I had time to react.

When my brain processed that I had let her get away without telling her that I like her back, my body jumped into action and I dashed down the stairs after her.

"Quinn!" I called, as I saw her about to go out the front door. She stopped and looked back at me in confusion. That's when I knew what I had to do.

I ran straight up and kissed her.

* * *

On a scale of one to ten, how shocked was I when Rachel kissed me? Oh, about ten million.

But it was nothing, nothing, compared to what she whispered in my ear after it.

"I like you too."

I almost died then and there. It was all I had wanted to hear.

Before we could do or say anything else, my mom honked her horn from the driveway. Damn my mother and her need for mother-daughter Saturday lunches.

I looked from Rachel, who was biting her lip and grinning shyly at me, to the door. Never before had I wanted so bad to stay somewhere. But my feet were moving me out the door and away from her.

There was no way I would be able to wait until Monday to see her again.

* * *

**Song: Catch Me- Demi Lovato**


	5. Yellow

_"Look at the stars,_

_look how they shine for you,_

_and everything you do,_

_yeah they were all yellow."_

**Prologue: Part 5**

"I swear, Rachel Berry, if you don't tell me where we're going right now I'm turning around." It was dark and we had been walking for an hour, but there was no way I was ruining the surprise. So I took her right hand and interlaced her fingers with mine.

"Now you can't go anywhere," I smirked, because I knew she would never let go of my hand.

She sighed. "Rach, seriously. It's freezing out here, and at this rate we won't make it back for the fireworks."

"I never said we were going to the town fireworks show," I replied.

"But it's New Year's Eve and I love fireworks," she whined. "Please, can we turn around and go watch them?" No. That would ruin the entire surprise.

I stopped us and looked her in the eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes. "Just trust me, okay?"

She nodded and we continued on. "Just so you know, if I didn't trust you I wouldn't have followed you when we entered the woods."

"Why? Scared?" I questioned, grinning at her.

"No. I'm just a bit worried about the possibility of serial killers in the shadows."

I squeezed her hand for reassurance. "There are no serial killers here. I already checked."

"Well that's good to know," she smirked. "It would also be good to know where we're going."

"We're here," I said as we came to a clearing.

"What are we doing here?" she pressed as I took off my backpack and started rummaging around for the item I wanted.

"Can't you be patient for ten seconds?" I asked, taking out the picnic blanket and spreading it on the ground.

"Wouldn't it be more practical to wrap the blanket around us?" she questioned.

"Sure, if you want your ass to be cold," I remarked, sitting down. She soon joined me on the ground, wrapping me in her arms for warmth.

"Ooh, Rachel Berry cursing," she murmured, and I could just imagine the smirk she was wearing at the moment. Sure enough, when I looked at her, there it was. She kissed me on the forehead when she noticed me looking.

"Shut up," I said playfully, resting my head on her shoulder. Then I closed my eyes and took everything in. Her warmth. Her intoxicating smell. Her kisses. Her eyes that were practically burned into my mind. Her smile, which only came out when I was around.

When I was with her, I was home.

* * *

We sat there for a while, just basking in each other and gazing up at the stars. I let my toes continue freezing, because they weren't important at the moment. She was the only thing that mattered.

"Hey Rach," I whispered, hoping she hadn't gone to sleep.

"Hm?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Why is it that everything reminds me of you?" It was a question that had been on my mind.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's just…" I tried to put into words what I wanted to tell her. "No matter what, it reminds me of you. Like the stars for instance." I gestured to the night sky. "I can't see them without thinking of how you're a star. And… Fireworks! Whenever I see fireworks I can't help but think about how I see fireworks every time I kiss you."

She smiled and pulled me in for a kiss. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought fireworks if this is all it takes."

"You brought fireworks for us to shoot? Is that what's in the bag?" She nodded. "But you still didn't answer my other question."

"What question?"

"Why does everything remind me of you?"

"Maybe you're in love with me," she suggested hopefully.

"Nah, that couldn't possibly be it," I teased, and she pouted. I couldn't stand to see her without a smile, so I whispered what she had been waiting on in her ear. "I love you, Rachel."

"Aren't we a little bit young for love?" she smirked. She had gotten what she wanted, which meant she could tease me now.

Two could play at that game. "Aren't you a bit young to buy fireworks?" She rolled her eyes.

"My fathers bought them, if you must know," she replied. "But you didn't answer my question." Of course she was using my lines against me now.

I sighed, giving in and saying it once again. "I love you, Rachel."

"I love you too, Quinn." And with those words, I felt like I could do anything. I'm sure I had the craziest smile on my face when I kissed her then.

"Can we shoot fireworks now?" I questioned.

"We just said 'I love you' for the first time and all you can think about is fireworks?"

"Well, I do see fireworks when I kiss you," I reminded her.

She smiled at me before getting up and crawling over to the backpack on the other side of the blanket. "They're not huge, like the ones the town will probably do, but still… I thought they may be fun since I know you love fireworks." She looked so unsure of herself though, so I crawled over to reassure her.

"They're perfect," I whispered after kissing her.

"Just make sure you get far enough away from here when you shoot them," she said, pulling them out and handing me a lighter.

"You're not gonna help me?" I questioned, pouting.

"Can't I just sit back here and watch?" I could see from her expression that she was afraid, so I didn't push it.

"Sure," I replied, taking an armful of fireworks and walking a safe distance away.

For the next twenty minutes or so, I played a game. It pretty much consisted of me lighting fireworks and then running back to sit with Rachel before they went off. And I was damn good at it. Rachel would always clap after each firework, small or big, just like it was a show stopping number in a Broadway show. I think she really enjoyed it, and my favorite smile on her face the entire time was enjoyment enough for me. It was almost like the football games again, in which I never saw anything but her, and that was okay.

But all good things end, and soon enough we were left with nothing but a couple Roman Candles and a box of Sparklers.

"I'm gonna need your help with these," I said, holding them up.

"You can't shoot them?" she questioned, worried.

"Well, I can, but they're a lot more fun if you have someone else with you," I explained. Then I paused for a moment as I considered whether or not to ask her. In the end, I decided to go ahead. "Rach, are you afraid of fireworks?" When she wouldn't look at me I got all the answer I needed. "Why?"

"Kids were mean back in middle school," was all she would say.

"Come on." I took her hand and pulled her up. "I'm not going to let you get hurt." She looked hesitant. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded, and I set a Roman Candle in her hand. "Now direct it toward the sky, but not right above us." I helped her with one hand, while I fumbled with the lighter in the other. When I finally got it lit, she flinched, but held on.

Suddenly, it went off. She jumped, but I held her hands steady. After the first few bursts, she actually developed a smile. She was settling into it and conquering her fears.

"You okay?" I asked once it stopped.

"Yeah," she smiled at me. "Can I shoot one by myself now?"

I grinned at her like she had just won a Tony. "Of course."

We spent the next few minutes shooting Roman Candles before we moved on to Sparklers. These she really liked.

"Quinn look!" she cried after getting used to them. "I can write my name in stars!"

"That's because you are a star," I reminded her, and she beamed at me.

I knew this night would forever be in my mind. Damn her and her ability to always take me on the unforgettable dates.

How was I supposed to top that?

* * *

**Song: Yellow- Coldplay**


	6. You Could Be Happy

_"You could be happy,_

_I hope you are_

_You made me happier than_

_I'd been by far."_

**Prologue: Part 6**

To me, Freshman year was a bit of a dream come true. I finally had a best friend, who just so happened to also be my amazing girlfriend. No one picked on me anymore like they had in middle school. I was actually doing really good in all my classes. Things were looking up for me.

But dreams end.

And when they do, they end suddenly.

* * *

All it took was a slushie to make me come down from my cloud.

It came out of absolutely nowhere one day in May, mere weeks before summer. I was walking down the hall to meet Rachel by our lockers before we went to math, and then before I knew what was happening I was covered in red. What made it even worse was that Rachel saw the whole thing.

She was in front of me within seconds. "Quinn, are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" I snapped, and she cringed away from me. I sighed. "Sorry, Rach."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She took me by the arm and led me straight to the bathroom.

"You know, you would look really pretty with red hair, or maybe even pink, but it's definitely your color," Rachel said as she wiped slushie off my face with a wet paper towel.

I smiled at this. She was always the one to bring the sunshine to a stormy situation. "Thanks for helping."

"You don't deserve this, Quinn. You've done absolutely nothing wrong," she stated, wiping the last of it off my face and then starting on my hair.

"I was supposed to be popular by now, Rach. I was supposed to be a Cheerio and dating the star of the football team and instead I'm…" But I didn't finish because the smile on her face had dropped.

"Instead you're secretly dating a girl who is just as much a nobody as you are," she finished quietly, looking away.

"Rachel…" I started, but didn't know what to say. It was true and we both knew it.

"Have you once thought about me? I wanted friends and to be a shining star winning singing competitions. I would have liked to be popular, too. But tomorrow it'll probably be my turn to receive a slushie to the face," she said, keeping her tone calm. If the situations were reversed, I know I surely wouldn't have been able to do it.

"I won't let that happen," I stated. To see her smile destroyed by something like that, I would never let happen.

"And how exactly are you going to do that, Quinn?" she asked, and I could hear the faint trace of anger in her voice.

"By breaking up with you." The fingers running through my hair stopped.

"What?" she whispered. Rip the Band-Aid off, Quinn, just do it.

"Rachel, we're standing in each other's way," I said, trying to get her to see. "And if we stay here we'll never do anything."

"No. This isn't the answer, Quinn," she said, and her eyes were there, pleading with me to fix this. "We can just spend less time with each other, or-"

"Rachel, listen to me." I sat up so we were face to face. "You are a star, and right now, I'm the only one who sees it. That's not how it should be. You've been putting off joining Glee Club just so we could spend our afternoons together. As for me, this is my only chance make something of myself. I was nothing in middle school, and I don't plan on being nothing through high school. That's why I changed my name, dyed my hair, and lost a lot of weight. I even got a nose job! I don't want to be cleaning slushies off each other for the next four years. I need to be something and you do too."

"I don't want to be something if you're not there," she whispered. Knife through the heart. I almost broke down and cried, because I could hear that she was so close to tears, but I had to be strong for both of us.

I took a breath and slowly said, "I'm not giving you a choice."

"But… I love you." Every time she spoke, it was like being repeatedly stabbed to death.

I wanted to much to tell her I love her as well, so so very much, but I couldn't. So I stood up, and walked out. I walked out of the bathroom and out of Rachel Berry's life.

And I left my heart with her.

* * *

The last couple weeks of school, were a blur to me. I just went to class and went home. There were no more movie nights or sleepovers or cute dates. She no longer whispered in my ear to make me laugh in homeroom. In fact, she didn't even sit behind me anymore. It was like we had never known each other, and I hated it more than anything.

Every time I passed her in the hallway, I would try to say something, but she just flat out ignored me. She avoided me like the plague. Whenever I went to my locker, she was nowhere to be seen. It made me hurt. Why should I be a star if it meant giving up the one person in my life who made me happy?

Quinn obviously wasn't having this problem. She tried out for the Cheerios the day after her slushie incident, and made it on. Within the week, she was set to go on a date with the second string football quarterback, Finn Hudson. Each day, her popularity went up and I mindlessly walked on, dying inside.

* * *

**Song: You Could Be Happy- Snow Patrol**


	7. Unfair

_"We were worlds apart and you see_

_it was so much easier to be_

_'Cause now I know what we can't have_

_and it's so unfair."_

**Prologue: Part 7**

I just want to put on the record that I was not, in fact, doing perfectly. I was hurting just as much as Rachel, if not more. Guess I was just better at forcing a smile.

Sure, I fought my way onto the Cheerios (you honestly don't want to know how I got on there) and collected a token boyfriend who was sure to be the quarterback once the senior starter graduated, but I was empty. There was a Rachel-shaped hole in my life that wouldn't go away, no matter what I tried to fill it with, whether it be my new friends Santana and Brittany, or the excruciating workouts I was being put through to catch up to Cheerios standards. It was made even worse when I would see her in the halls or in class, so I did my best to avoid her in any way possible by taking alternate routes and sitting where I couldn't see her.

I hated that I couldn't bring her up the popularity ladder with me, that we couldn't become McKinley's power couple, but this was Ohio. Not only wouldn't the students be accepting, but the original reason for our dating in secret, my parents, would murder me.

So I hid all my emotions and became the perfect, straight, ice queen that my parents would adore and that my classmates would fear and worship. It would take a while, probably all summer, but I would get there.

Once summer started, I lost all my drive for popularity because of the lack of people to impress. I was left with hours upon hours of freedom to think about Rachel and how I had basically forced the person I loved the most out of my life. I tried to stay away from anywhere she might visit, because every time I made eye contact with her she had these immensely sad eyes and I wanted nothing more than to fix the pain I had caused. So for the first couple weeks of summer I ran myself to exhaustion every day and then collapsed on the couch to watch reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in hopes that she would stay out of my head and out of my line of sight, but she still managed to haunt my dreams and thoughts.

When I ran, I would think of her and her incredible singing voice and her smile. The smile I loved and would probably never get to see again. Each time I came to this conclusion I would start thinking of all the ways I could fix us, each solution crazier than the last. For the longest time, I thought it would be impossible to fix us, even though I wanted to.

But then I realized how stupid it was to not even try. Surely she was hurting just as much as I was.

With all this in mind, I headed over to her house to talk to her for the first time in weeks.

It didn't go very well at first.

The second she opened the door and saw who it was, her smile vanished and she looked at the ground. I knew she wanted to slam the door in my face, but she was far too nice for that so she settled on pretending I wasn't there.

"Rachel," I tried. I wanted to see her eyes.

"What?" she mumbled.

"I know what I did was…" I tried to find the right word.

"Deplorable? Despicable? Heartless?" she suggested, finally looking at me and with such malice that I wish I hadn't begged to see her eyes.

"I was gonna say unfair," I stated. "But I still love you, Rach. And I want to fix us, to go back to normal. Back to being best friends."

She snorted. "Friends? Really Quinn? You break up with me and completely ignore me for weeks, and you expect me to believe you want to be friends? Go home."

"I can't talk to you in school," I said, trying my best to keep calm and hold her attention so she would leave me out there. "If I want my popularity to go up I have to associate with popular people, like Santana and Finn. But I do still want you in my life."

"And you couldn't find the time in your busy popular life to text me to let me know this?" she questioned, and for once I didn't have an answer. We could've kept texting. Hell, we could've continued meeting after school as long as no one saw us. "Exactly. Face it. This is all about you. You and your quest for popularity. You may say it's for me to live my dream or some crap like that, but you're really just trying to get rid of a roadblock."

"Rachel, you're my best friend," I stated, willing myself not to crumble. "I'm not trying to get rid of you, if I were I wouldn't be standing at your door begging you for forgiveness. I just… I need to be accepted by people. It's all I've ever wanted."

"Isn't my acceptance enough?" she asked coldly.

I felt the tears start running down my face. "Don't ask me that."

"We're done here." She turned to go back inside.

I think it was at that point that my heart shattered and I fell to the ground, sobbing. The knives that had been stabbing at my heart since that day in the bathroom had finally hit their mark.

She was down at my side within the second. "Rachel I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean to hurt you. I j-just want people t-to like me." She was helping me up and into her house without a word said on her part. It was very strange, but I just went with it. Before I knew it, I was on the couch in her living room with my head in her lap. She brushed the hair out of my face as I continued to cry, and all the while was silent.

After a while, I couldn't take it. "Rach, say something."

"What do you want me to say?" she asked quietly.

"Anything," I pleaded. I needed to know where we stood.

"Anything," she teased, and when I looked up at her, there was the smile. It looked weary, but the smile that made me fall in love with her was there. It was in that moment that I knew we would be okay.

* * *

The day that Quinn showed up at my house, I literally felt my heart wrenched in two. She was there all helpless and vulnerable, and I just wanted to take her in my arms and go cuddle because I had missed the girl I loved so much. But then there was a part of me that kept reminding me of the hurt she had caused over the past few weeks, that she didn't deserve my love. It pretty much won out in the beginning, but then when she started crying my resolve melted into a pile of goo.

It was when we were actually cuddling while watching Wizard of Oz that I realized how mixed up this was. She was dating a guy now, even though she told me the first day we met that she was gay. She was cuddling with me when she was dating a guy. Quinn should've been cuddling with him, not me. That's when it really hit me that she was only using him on her climb to popularity; nothing more. I was strangely okay with her doing that, as long as at the end of the day we were like this.

* * *

**Song: Unfair- Kate Voegele**


	8. World Spins Madly On

_"Woke up and wished that I was dead_

_with an aching in my head_

_I lay motionless in bed_

_I thought of you and where you'd gone_

_and let the world spin madly on."_

**Prologue: Part 8**

My parents decided to throw a back to school barbecue the week before school started. It was hard to squeeze in; with school being so close, Coach wanted us practicing all day, but I convinced her to cut it short that day. I didn't really have time to change out of my uniform, but that was all for the better. Rachel loved me in uniform and, consequentially, so did Finn.

Normally I would've been against a party thrown by my parents. No one ever came to any of my parties in middle school. But I knew people now so I figured it was okay. People would show up and it would help my popularity. My mistake was inviting Rachel.

Everything was going fine up until she got there. I was (reluctantly) flirting with Finn, and then she arrived.

Rachel was absolutely gorgeous that night. I wanted nothing more than to go over there and make out with her, but I restrained myself. Instead, I made out with Finn and pretended it was her. Sure, it wasn't the same, but it was good for my image and it helped me not stare at Rachel.

But when we broke away, it was even worse.

I had failed to notice before that she brought a girl with her. She was Asian and certainly wasn't from our school, as I'd never seen her before. And Rachel was smiling at her. That girl was getting MY Rachel Berry smile! It took all I had in me not to march over there and snatch Rachel away. Though I did extract myself from Finn and storm into the house.

How could she! She was mine! She couldn't just go smiling at some other girl. Oh, I bet she was flirting too! Damn Rachel Berry and her flirting abilities.

I wasn't putting up with this. Not sober at least. But I couldn't just stay at home and get drunk. No, my parents would kill me if they found me. Which meant I had to go to Puck's. He was the only one not at the party (my parents wouldn't let me invite him), and he wouldn't mind.

That was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made.

* * *

I couldn't find Quinn anywhere at her party after seeing her initially all over Finn, which probably meant she was back to ignoring me in front of other people. So the day after, I went to visit her for the first time ever to find out where we stood since she wasn't answering her phone.

Her mom looked extremely surprised when I said I was there to see Quinn. She showed me to her room and then left me to knock.

"Go away," she groaned.

"Quinn, it's me," I replied.

"You're the last person I want to see," she stated, and my heart sank. What did I do? I wasn't going away; I had to know.

"Oh, Quinn," I sighed upon entering her room and seeing her. She was sprawled on the bed, half in the covers and half out. Her face was in the pillows and her hair was sticking up in ways of extreme adorableness. When she heard my voice, she looked up out of the pillows and groaned.

"Why did you come in here?" she asked as I shut the door and hesitantly sat on the edge of her bed.

"Because something's obviously wrong," I replied, and she finally looked at me. Her eyes were bloodshot and they weren't looking at me very nicely at the moment, but they were still the hazel eyes that I loved.

"I'm not accepting apologies at the moment," she stated and collapsed back into her pillows.

"What am I supposed to be apologizing for?" I questioned. I had done absolutely nothing to her. Or had I?

"You know what you did," she said through the pillows.

"No, I don't, or I would've already apologized for it," I said. "So tell me what it is."

"I saw you last night with that other girl," she stated, glancing at me for a reaction. "You were flirting."

I sighed and laid down where my face was mere inches from hers. "For starters, that was an incoming freshman whom I was trying to befriend. I led her tour group at Freshman Orientation today and she needed friends just like me. Her name is Tina, and she's straight, if you must know. Besides, she's not my type."

"Oh," she breathed.

"Furthermore, may I remind you that I am in my own right to flirt with her should I want to, because you are in no way my girlfriend. And if I remember correctly, you were all over a certain boy," I said, and she rolled her eyes.

"So you and me, we're not dating," she stated.

"Not dating," I confirmed.

"Then you don't mind if I tell you that I got drunk and had sex with Puck last night?" She did not. There was no way she would.

"Please tell me you're not serious," I said, but I could see in her bloodshot hazel eyes that she was.

"Do you really think I would still be in bed if I wasn't?" she questioned. Remain calm. Don't do anything stupid. Don't go off on her. She's not your girlfriend.

"You must've been quite drunk to have sex with a boy, much less Noah," I said, trying to make light of the situation when I really just wanted to cry.

"Yeah, I was," she replied. "And I'm paying for it now."

"Why did you get drunk? Surely you didn't do it for fun in front of your parents," I prompted, and she turned over to look away. "Quinn."

"I was insanely jealous of you with that girl and you were so hot I wanted to make out with you so bad and I just couldn't handle it sober so I went to drink at Puck's," she explained in a rushed mess of words.

"Oh Quinn," I said once again, and then I pulled her close to me. "For someone so brilliant, sometimes you're so stupid."

"You know I'm not going to be able to ignore you anymore when we go back, right?" This surprised me. Was she going to give up the popularity quest and come back to me?

"How so?"

"There are certain things expected of me, and being a bitch to people like you is one of them," she stated. Oh.

"Will you still come over and watch musicals with me every afternoon?" I asked. I just needed to keep my Quinn, the girl who was my best friend; the girl I fell in love with.

"Of course," she replied, finally turning back over and letting me see her beautiful eyes again. "And when we go back, you need to finally join Glee Club."

"But that creepy guy runs it. You know that's why I haven't been in it," I explained.

"Then get him fired. You're going to be a star, you have to do whatever it takes," she reminded me.

"And I will," I assured her.

"Just remember that when I try and tear you down every day."

"You really think you can actually be mean to me?"

"We'll see."

"I guess this will be our greatest acting challenge."

"It will indeed."

* * *

**Song: World Spins Madly On- The Weepies**

**A/N:** This was where this fic was actually supposed to end, but I'm still writing! I've gotten about 30,000 words written in addition to what I've already posted and I'm not even at Sectionals yet, so lots more with Quinn and Rachel and the others (yes, more of the Glee kids will be in the story) to come. Unfortunately, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, thus the reason I'm posting this a day early, and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access so it might be a while before the next chapter. Okay, I'm going now. Hope you've been enjoying the story so far, and if you have, please review!


	9. Into The Fire

_"Come on, come on_

_put your hands into the fire."_

**Prologue: Part 8**

"You can't be serious."

"What?"

"Really, Rach? Really?"

"Don't you like it?"

"All I can say is you're going to make my job a hell of a lot easier."

We were sitting in my room on the first day of school. Quinn had come over early to have one last make out session before we had to start hating each other. She won't admit that's what she came over for, but I could see straight through her. Except the second she saw me, she burst out laughing. Apparently my new fashion style didn't leave much to be desired, but it helped me get into character.

"Well, you are weaker actor out of the two of us. I'm only trying to help." I smirked as she gaped at me.

"Fine then. Get a slushie on the first day. Just make sure to pack an extra cat sweater for when that one gets ruined." I rolled my eyes. Surely she wouldn't let anyone slushie me. Would she?

"Can't you stop that, miss newly made captain of the Cheerios?" I questioned.

"I'm sure I could, but that would be a sign of weakness," she answered. "And I'm already the weaker actor so I can't have anymore weaknesses."

"Alright, I take back what I said about you being the weaker actor. I'm sure your ability to pretend to be in love with that Finn character rivals my own abilities," I admitted defeat, and it was her turn to smirk. "So will you please call off any and all slushie attacks?"

She sighed and scooted over on my bed to be closer so she could wrap her arms around me. "Rachel, I can't show any affection for you there at all. You know that. I have to find them throwing slushies at you hilarious. But I promise I will never order one thrown at you, nor will I ever throw one at you, and I will always help you clean it off."

"I guess I can handle that." She could stop them if she wanted. She had the power; she just wasn't going to use it.

"But only if the bathroom is clear," she added as an afterthought. "Otherwise you're on your own."

"Hey!" I cried, playfully shoving her off me.

"Just the truth," she said, stifling a laugh.

"Well maybe I should find someone else then. Maybe Finn?" I teased. She didn't hold back her laughter at this.

"Finn? Like he would ever talk to you, much less clean a slushie off you."

"What makes you so sure of that?" I questioned.

"Have you seen what you're wearing?" She gestured to my outfit. "I mean, I think you're adorable and all, but guys don't really go for adorable."

"I bet I can steal Finn away from you while wearing these outfits," I stated seriously, but she just chuckled to herself and shook her head.

"I know your acting skills are good, but they're not that good." Was that a challenge?

"So let's bet on it," I offered.

"What?" She seemed taken aback.

"If my acting skills genuinely aren't that good, then you have nothing to lose."

"If I win, what do I get?" That was Quinn; all about the prizes and the winning.

"What do you want?" At this, she smiled. Oh no I shouldn't have asked that Quinn can be very outrageous and-

"You."

I sighed with relief. "But you already have me, silly."

"I know, just reaffirming it with you. But as for the bet, if I win, you can't flirt with anybody ever again." That was more like the outlandish Quinn I knew.

"That's stupid and completely unreasonable, but it doesn't really matter because I'm going to win, and when I win you have to go a full year without dating anyone."

"You have until we graduate."

"More than enough time."

"You'll never get him."

"Just watch me."

* * *

And watch I did. She made no move whatsoever to try and flirt with him. When I asked her about this one afternoon (safely at her house), she said she was "waiting for the right moment".

If you ask me, she was formulating some master plan. She was always the one to scheme, even though she looked like an innocent puppy the majority of the time. Rachel Berry was the evil mastermind behind all the best dates we went on, even though I tried and tried to outshine her. She always found a way to win. That was just who she was.

So of course she wasn't waiting on the right moment. Rachel has never been patient enough to just wait on things. She has to take them.

Two weeks into the semester, she finally started.

* * *

**Song: Into the Fire- Thirteen Senses**

**A/N: **From this point on, the story will be weaving in and out of the actual Glee episodes, which might answer some of your questions.


	10. Look After You

_"If ever there was a doubt_

_my love she leans into me_

_this most assuredly counts."_

__**Centered around Pilot.**

As Quinn very aptly pointed out, I did have a knack for planning things. It just so happens that I did have a huge plan for winning over Finn Hudson, but I had other things to do first.

If I was ever going to get anywhere at that school, I couldn't be apart of a stool choir. They didn't win Sectionals, much less Nationals. We needed a real Glee teacher, but first I had to get rid of the existing one. That was easily done. It took less acting to get rid of Sandy Ryerson than it took acting like I wasn't in love with Quinn daily.

When I saw the glee club sign up sheet, I knew that things were going according to plan. It didn't matter who was running it now, just as long as I got to be the star. Quinn was the star of the Cheerios, and I would be the star of Glee. So when I signed my name on that sheet, I put my signature gold star sticker after it.

Unfortunately about ten seconds after that I got my first slushie ever.

* * *

The second I saw I had a text from her, I knew it had finally happened.

I stormed to the bathroom on the second floor, positively fuming. After checking all the stalls to make sure no one else was there, I turned to her and my anger melted. She needed me now. Catching her eye in the mirror, I came up behind her and wrapped her in a hug.

"Red's really your color, dear," I whispered in her ear, teasing. It was kind of funny that we both ended up getting red on our first times.

"If you think that then your fashion sense must be truly lacking," she replied. "Now quit trying to be all cute and help me get this off." Grudgingly, I obliged.

"We're talking about fashion?" I questioned, wetting a paper towel. "You're the one dressed like a grandma."

"Just to ward off all the suitors. This grandma only has eyes for one," she grinned.

"Oh really? And who may that lucky person be?" I asked, playing along.

"The charming Finn Hudson of course." I rolled my eyes at this. She giggled.

"You're not going to win," I singsonged.

"Wait and watch me," she singsonged back.

"Do you need an extra shirt or anything? I've got some clothes in the locker room," I offered. Her blouse was kind of ruined with red slushie.

"That's okay. I've kept a change of clothes in my locker for just this sort of situation," she replied. "But if you could go get them for me..?"

"Rach…" I sighed. "What if someone sees me coming from your locker? What are they going to think?"

"That you're leaving some evil booby trap in my locker?" she suggested, and I broke down laughing. "What?"

"You said booby," I stated between breaths.

"Quinn Fabray grow up and go get my clothes!" she cried, pushing me out of the bathroom.

God I was so in love with that girl.

* * *

Auditions went swimmingly that afternoon. Things were going to be great.

Then when I got home I noticed the comments on my MySpace video of the day. There was one from Quinn, not to mention all the other Cheerios. My heart sunk.

It had started.

But later Quinn was coming over to cuddle and watch Thoroughly Modern Millie so it was okay.

Everything would be okay.

Wouldn't it?

* * *

As I ran to her house after school, my mind was filled with her crying when she saw those comments. Some of them had been really mean, and to me Rachel was still the fragile girl I met on the day of Freshman Orientation. This made me run faster, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. I probably set a new record on my mile run. Coach would've been proud.

I should've been more careful when watching her daily MySpace video. If I had only waited until I got home, I could've avoided this. But I just had to hear her sing, and Santana had ended up sneaking to where I was to see what I was watching before calling the others over as well. It was completely my fault if she was upset over the comments.

Though when I opened the door to her house, I wasn't greeted with the sound of Funny Girl and sniffling. Weird.

"Rachel?" I called out, cautiously walking further in.

"Quinn?" Her head popped out from the kitchen. Upon seeing me, she beamed my favorite Rachel Berry smile and ran right into my arms, knocking the breath out of me. She was breathtaking, literally, and she loved proving it.

She pulled me into a kiss that I had so desperately needed. I had wanted to know she wasn't angry about the comments; for her to know I was acting. Obviously she knew.

When we broke apart, she whispered, "I got into Glee."

"Was there any doubt that you wouldn't?" I questioned, smiling at her.

"Well, quite a few Cheerios don't like my voice, so there was a chance," she replied, teasing me.

"Sorry about that. You know I didn't mean anything I said. It was just a-" But her lips cut off my apology.

"I know."

"Do you also know that you're the most amazing singer on this planet?"

"Only on this planet? Are you saying the martians are better than me?" she pouted.

"Yes, of course. That's exactly what I meant," I retorted.

"No cookies for you then." And with that she whirled around and stormed back into the kitchen. She was a diva through and through.

"Did you bake them, or did your dads?" I asked, following after her.

"I did, and I made them extra special with love for you," she replied.

"When you say love, do you mean you burnt them?" Her mouth dropped.

She brandished a spatula in my face. "Quinn Fabray, it was one time!"

I put my hands up in surrender. "And that one time I ate them anyway because you said you made them with love for me."

"Do you also remember that it was your own fault because you wouldn't stop making out with me for the minute it would take to pull them out of the oven!"

"Details," I muttered before stealing a cookie that was, thankfully, not burnt.

"I thought I said you couldn't have any cookies?" she reminded me.

"Oh please, you made these for me. After all, I am the hero that cleaned slushie off you."

"You're also the hero who made rude comments on my video."

I sighed. "Fine. How can I make it up to you?"

"Watch a movie with me?"

"I thought that's what we were going to do anyway?"

"Well, it was supposed to be your turn to pick the movie…"

"Go for it. Though I refuse to watch Funny Girl. We've watched it more times than I can count."

"That's because you always distract me during it. I doubt you've actually seen the whole movie," she teased. "But no, we're not watching Funny Girl."

"Okay good. What are we watching?" I asked, taking another cookie. She attempted to glare at me before breaking into a smile. Rachel just wasn't capable of being mean.

"You'll just have to wait and find out." And she was gone once again. I swear she could teleport.

"Does that mean I'm not going to like it?" I questioned, taking my time getting to the living room.

"Oh, you're going to watch the movie this time?" I heard her ask from down the hall.

"Hey! I watch the movies!" I cried. Sometimes.

"So you wouldn't be opposed to sitting five feet apart during it?"

"That's not happening," I replied, entering the room to find her waiting on me. I sat beside her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "This is my seat."

"I know," she said, settling in to me and starting the movie.

Throughout the movie, she would whisper the lyrics into my ear, just like always. She was my star, and at the moment no one knew it except me. But just wait until that first Glee rehearsal. Then they would all know.

It was with that mindset that I went to school the next day. Which is why it surprised me when I looked up during cheerleading practice and saw her in the bleachers alone instead of at Glee rehearsal.

* * *

I could feel her stare, before and after Mr Schuester talked to me. She didn't know I was going to be hiding out from Glee, but it was all part of the plan. There would be many questions asked by Quinn the moment she stepped into my house that afternoon, but I couldn't answer her or she would put a stop to everything.

Guess I should explain my plan. You see, Quinn told me that Finn is a moderately good singer. So I planned to get him into the glee club as our male lead and then have him fall in love with me through song. Which was why I had to storm out of rehearsals. Mr Schuester would, of course, come after me since I was the best. I would then explain that I needed a male lead. If he found someone other than Finn, I would just deem him not good enough and storm out again. Luckily, he did get Finn on the first try.

When we first sang together, I tried my hardest to flirt. Apparently I wasn't as good at flirting with guys as I was Quinn. He just looked extremely uncomfortable the entire time. But I wouldn't give up. It may take more time than I had allotted, but I would win the bet.

So I toned down my flirting when we went on the field trip. If I could make him a friend first, it would be easier. At least, that's how it was with Quinn.

"You're very talented," I said, not completely a lie. He was okay, but not the best.

"Really?" He acted surprised, like it was the first compliment anyone had ever given him.

"Yeah. I would know. I'm very talented, too. I think the rest of the team expects us to become an item. You, the hot male lead, and me, the stunning young ingenue everyone roots for." No one was rooting for me. Well, except for my dads. And Quinn.

"Well, I have a girlfriend." Great. I knew this was going to come up sooner or later.

"Really? Who?" I asked, trying to act like I didn't know when in reality it should've been me that was dating her. But it was fine, everything was fine. I was perfectly okay with our arrangement. If I repeated it enough in my mind, maybe one day I would believe it.

"Quinn Fabray."

"Cheerleader Quinn Fabray? The president of the Celibacy Club?"

"For almost four months now. She's cool." Really? That's all he had to say about her? She's "cool"? There weren't enough adjectives in the world to describe Quinn and he picks that lame one. He didn't deserve her.

I fumed on the inside for the rest of the day, and to make matters worse she couldn't come over any that weekend.

I didn't see her again until the day Mr Schuester announced he was leaving us. It was only a Monday, but that was the longest we had been apart since those few weeks before summer.

Unfortunately when I saw her we were at school and I was talking to Finn about Glee Club.

"Hi Finn." I felt my breath hitch. "RuPaul." Oh joy. Nicknames.

"Hey," Finn greeted her. Even though I wanted nothing more than to say hello to her and smile, I stayed silent because I knew this was the part we had been waiting to act out: confrontation.

"What are you doing talking to her?" Quinn asked.

He was speechless, so I had to say something. "Science project; we're partners." She knew I was lying. She was in my science class, but she didn't call me out on it. Instead, she did something infinitely worse.

"Christ Crusaders tonight at 5, my house." That was OUR time. The time she normally came to my house. Quinn saw my plan finally working, and she was going to do everything she could to stop it.

It was on.

* * *

**Song: Look After You- The Fray**


	11. Don't You

**A/N: Like I said before, this story is now weaving in and out of the episodes. They won't all focus as heavily on the episode as this one does, but I liked this episode and I thought Quinn and Rachel had very good interactions in it that were easy to write around. And yes, there is some dialogue from episode, not because I ran out of ideas (trust me, when I run out of ideas that's when I write lots of fluff), but because I want this as believable as possible and sometimes it's necessary to have Quinn or Rachel's reaction to some of the dialogue from the show.**

**So go forth now and enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

* * *

_"Here we are: two strangers in a very different place_

_who knows what could happen next?_

_Here we are with nothing but this little spark_

_it's too cold outside to lay this fire to rest."_

**Centered around Showmance.**

Rachel was up to something. Her evil plan had started, and she had somehow managed to talk to Finn. She had even gotten him to join Glee Club. Of course, I could just ask her how she managed that feat, but that would almost be like quitting. She was not winning the bet. There was no way I could go without dating someone for a year and still maintain my popularity.

"So you're going to tell me the real reason you were talking to her yesterday," I said walking to Finn's locker with him.

"I, ah, sorta joined Glee Club and she wanted to know why I wasn't at practice," he admitted easily.

"You can't be in Glee Club!" Rachel was not winning that easily. I would get him out of there.

"Why not?" he asked, opening his locker. "I kind of like it."

"We are in line to be the most popular kids in school over the next couple years," I explained.

"Yeah, I know." Wait is that Rachel over there?

"Prom king and queen. Homecoming court royalty. I am not giving up those shiny crowns just so you can express yourself!" Was Rachel listening? Spying?

"Look, you're making too big a deal out of this." She was definitely listening in. Fine. I would make it worth her while.

"Okay. Let's compromise. If you quit the club, I'll let you touch my breast." I would've heard her sharp intake of breath a mile away.

"Under the shirt?"

"Over the bra." Never letting a guy get that close to me again. Puck was way more than enough to finalize that I'm a lesbian, and I don't even remember half of it.

"No. No I-I can't." Dammit Rachel! "I want to do Glee. I'm really happy when I'm performing."

"People think you're gay now, Finn. And you know what that makes me? Your big gay beard." I could just imagine the smirk Rachel must have had on her face after I said that.

"Look. I gotta go to class. Okay? Just relax. Everything's gonna work out." It better.

Rachel was still there, unfortunately. Guess it was time for another session of bitchy acting with the person I love.

"Eavesdrop much?" I closed in on her. "Time for some girl talk, man hands. You can dance with him. You can sing with him. But you will never have him."

"I understand why you'd feel threatened. Finn and I have made a connection. But I'm an honorable person. I don't need to steal your man." But you're going to. You're going to try your best. "I have plenty of suitors of my own. Every day Glee's status is going up, and yours is going down. Deal with it."

It was perfect acting by the both of us. That is, until Rachel was hit with two slushies. It took everything I had to laugh along with everyone else. I wanted so badly to go and punch Puck. But instead I went and cleared out the closest bathroom. She came in with a change of clothes a few minutes later.

The first thing she said upon entering the bathroom was, "Quinn, you really need to work on your insults. I mean seriously. Man hands? RuPaul?"

I smiled slightly. "You come in here covered in blue slushie and your top priority is to insult my insults?"

"On another note," she continued on while I dabbed at the blue on her face with a wet paper towel. Nothing would stop her from talking. "Isn't it a bit ironic that you're Finn's gay beard?"

"I knew you would find that amusing," I replied. "But what about how you're an honorable person and you don't need to steal my man?"

"I don't. He's going to dump you for me." She wore a confident smirk, and while seeing it on innocent Rachel was funny on its own, seeing it on a slushie-covered Rachel was hilarious.

"Yeah okay, Rach," I chuckled. "You do that."

"Furthermore, were you really going to let that oaf touch your breasts?" Ah, we had gotten to the question I knew was coming.

It was my turn to smirk. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"N-no it's just," she stammered as her face turned blood red. Embarrassed Rachel was absolutely adorable.

To see if she could get any redder, I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You know, you can touch them if you want."

"Quinn…" The blue slushie was completely off her face by this time, and she looked almost as red as she had when she'd been hit by a red slushie.

"Not here of course," I stated, and I tried to catch her eyes. She was doing her best to avoid eye contact with me.

"I'm gonna go change now." She quickly grabbed up her clothes and practically ran into a stall.

"I was just kidding, Rachel!" Damn. I had scared her so much she wouldn't even change in front of me anymore. Oh well. It was still worth it.

* * *

I didn't leave my stall until I was sure Quinn had left. That whole thing was obviously a ploy to distract me from the bet. But still it was extremely tempting. It was a very good effort, Quinn, but not enough.

The fact that she left me without saying anything, though, meant she was mad. That wasn't really good for me, because she would probably invite Finn over again instead of coming to my house. Ugh. The thought of him touching her, kissing her, just made me want to throw up.

So when I saw them kissing in the hallway the next morning, I rushed to the bathroom. The need to puke up my breakfast had vanished by the time I reached the toilet, though. Unfortunately, Ms Pillsbury found me. I decided to play it off, which ended with me in the guidance office and her talking to me thinking I had bulimia.

"I don't have bulimia," I corrected her before she could get into a long winded sermon about it. "I tried it and failed and won't ever attempt it again."

"Okay."

"It grossed me out," I added for extra believability.

"Okay. But I still want to talk about the feelings that you had that led up to you wanting to puke your guts out." No. We were not talking about that. I would rather her think I was bulimic than explain my situation. So I lied.

"I want to be thinner," I stated. "Prettier, like that Quinn girl." She was the only example that I could think up because she was the only girl I ever noticed.

"Mmhm. And, um, why is that?"

Before I could stop myself, I was saying, "Have you ever liked someone so much you just wanna lock yourself in your room, turn on sad music, and cry?"

"No." And when she paused for a minute to stare off into the distance I knew she was lying. "Uh, but a boy crush, huh?" No. From that point on I stopped listening and thought of Quinn. But then Ms Pillsbury's eyes started going off into the distance again, and I decided to follow them, only to find Mr Schuester. I probably should've been listening, but at least I heard her question at the end. "Have you just tried telling him how you feel?"

She knew how I felt. She felt the same way. But I was acting, and this couldn't be about Quinn. How about Finn? "He doesn't even notice me." Yet.

"I see. Um, okay. Here's what I think." Nope. I started zoning out again, thinking about her and the plan and her and whether I did my math homework and her. When Ms Pillsbury stopped talking, I smiled and nodded as if she had just changed my view on life. In reality, I knew what I was going to do next long before I talked to her.

* * *

Oh. My. Dear. God.

How was I supposed to think of celibacy when Rachel was there? All I wanted to do was jump across the tables and take her against the wall. But no. She probably wouldn't even let me do that.

So I decided the easiest thing would be to tease her out of her mind.

Though I'll admit, I was a bit worried about her having to be with Jacob when we paired up. It was no secret that he was obsessed with her. Except it's not like I could force others to switch. That would be suspicious.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her look over at me longingly. She got herself into that awkward situation, and there was nothing I could do about it but grind against Finn with nothing but a balloon separating us. When the balloon popped, I was all ready to storm out after reprimanding Finn. Luckily Rachel couldn't endure it either, and decided to step in and save me.

"You know what? This is a joke. Did you know that most studies demonstrated that celibacy doesn't work in high schools? Our hormones are driving us too crazy to abstain. The second we start telling ourselves that there's no room for compromise, we act out. The only way to deal with teen sexuality is to be prepared. That's what contraception is for."

"Don't you dare mention the 'C' word," I said, since it was expected of me. But in reality, I was intrigued. This was Rachel, talking about sex.

"You wanna know a dirty little secret that none of them want you to know? Girls want sex just as much as guys do." Then she turned and stormed off in her usual way, but I was a little preoccupied to watch her ass like I normally would've. My mind was too busy questioning whether that was Rachel's way of telling me she wanted sex.

No. This was Rachel we were talking about. Innocent Rachel, who got freaked out when I mentioned she could touch my boobs. There was no way. Was there?

* * *

Quinn still didn't show up at my house that day. I was starting to think she was really angry at me. She had promised to keep these up, and yet here it was, almost a week without her. I thought my little rant in Celibacy Club would at least entice her to call me, but no such luck.

Well, if she wasn't already angry at me, she'd be furious after what I had planned for the assembly.

* * *

Finally. I was finally going to get to see Rachel perform. Before, she had only sang for me. I had never seen her in her element, but today was the day. Her and her band of misfits were going to perform at the assembly.

I had been avoiding her for the last couple of days because I couldn't figure her out. First she's all scared to touch my boobs, then she's making a speech about how she wants sex. That's what she said, right? Either way, that's all I heard.

"This is going to be lame," Santana whispered to me.

"Yeah, I know," I smirked.

"Now, I can tell you all about how great Glee is, but, uh, I think I'm gonna let some friends of mine show you instead."

The curtains opened, the music started, and I almost died.

God, I would have rather endured a thousand Celibacy Club meetings with Rachel than that.

I don't know how I managed to stay in my seat and not run up onto that stage to steal her away. She was so hot and that should've been ME up there with her, not Finn. I can only imagine the look of horror I must've had on my face while watching her grind all over him.

She was punishing me for ignoring her. I knew it.

Two could play at that game.

* * *

Well that completely backfired. We were going to be stuck singing balloon songs and Quinn wouldn't even look at me. The only good thing that came of it was Finn asking to rehearse with me. If I could make everything go perfect, he would be mine and I would win the bet.

Which is why I went a little overboard, setting up an elaborate picnic.

Everything was going perfect. He wasn't the most interesting person to talk to, but at least I wasn't being too crazy with the flirting. I knew I would have him if I could just get him to kiss me. That's how it worked in the movies, right? It pretty much went the same way with Quinn, so I assumed that was how it was done.

So I said, "You know, you can kiss me if you want to."

"I want to."

But then I actually had to kiss him and oh God how did Quinn do this every day? It didn't make me feel as if I was on fire like when I kissed Quinn. I just felt kind of empty. But I went with it because when I was on Broadway I would surely have to kiss someone that I wasn't in love with and that was okay. I convinced myself it was practice for Broadway and stayed with it.

Except he was breaking it off and hurriedly getting up. With a few words, he was gone, and I was left to think about how I almost won.

* * *

After that day, I was in Glee Club. There was no way I could let another song like the one from the assembly happen. Rachel was mine and Finn needed to back the fuck off.

"Quinn?" I sat up on my bed to find that somehow she had gotten into my room without me hearing her.

"Why are you here? You know you can't be found here," I muttered, not looking at her. She had probably found out about the audition.

"I didn't know you could sing," she whispered, cautiously sitting on the edge of my bed.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," I retorted.

"But I want to. More than anything I want to," she replied, and I could hear the pleading in her voice. Don't crack, Fabray. "And I can't believe you would keep that from me when you know how important singing is to me."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Rachel. You're really mad at me for not telling you I could sing, when I have all the reasons in the world to be furious at you?" She looked confused, so I continued on. "I endured Celibacy Club with you. I watched as you practically had sex with Finn at the assembly!"

"You didn't like my performance," she murmured, and I could feel the waterworks coming on.

"Rach, you were so hot, and I wanted nothing more in that moment than to be Finn," I said, avoiding the subject.

She grinned devilishly, tears immediately disappearing. I didn't even know Rachel could grin like that. "Well, we could reenact it right now." And she was on top of me within seconds, kissing me as if her life depended on it.

"My mom is home!" I whispered when I got the chance. I sat up, pushing her off. She pouted and grudgingly sat beside me.

"Quinn, I'm a performer, you know that right? I will have to do things like that dance and probably worse when I'm acting, but that's all it is: acting," she explained softly.

"I know," I sighed.

"And furthermore, you don't see me getting angry over every time I have to see you and Finn kiss. Though there was that one time where I almost threw up…" she rambled and got lost in her thoughts.

"Wait what?" I questioned. This I had not heard before.

"Nothing," she waved off, cuddling into my side. "So Finn and I kissed." What. I was going to kill that boy.

"When did this happen?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. It was just the bet, just the bet, she likes you not him, just the bet…

"In the auditorium, when we were rehearsing. Which means I win the bet!" she replied, and smirked at me.

"Hold on. Just because you kissed, does not mean that you're dating. Otherwise we would be dating at the moment," I explained to her. She sighed in defeat. God I wished we were dating so I wouldn't have to put up with this.

"I miss dating you," she whispered, and I felt my heart break a bit.

"Me too, Rach. Me too."

* * *

**Song: Don't You- Darren Criss**


	12. What If

**A/N: Probably my least favorite chapter to write yet, and I'm all the way at Rachel's birthday (which, by the way, is a huge chapter of fluff) so I've been through quite a bit. I'm worried that it might be too choppy, but I don't really have the time to sit here and ponder how best to fix it, plus I don't really like to leave you guys without an update a week. I would update more but with school starting on Monday I won't have near as much time to write and I don't want to have you guys suffer longer waits because I have too much Calculus work.**

* * *

_"What if you should decide_

_that you don't want me there by your side_

_that you don't want me there in your life."_

__**Centered around Acafellas.**

"Rachel!"

Suddenly I was snatched out of the hall and into a bathroom. By instinct, my hands flew to shield my face.

"It's just me," said the voice of the loveliest person in the world. My defense melted away and I opened my eyes to find Quinn.

"I'm going to be late for class," I stated. As if I'd choose class over her.

"Then I'll make it quick. Will you do me a favor?" she asked, taking my hands in hers.

"Depends."

"Santana and I are going to ask you to do something later. Can you please just accept it, no questions asked?" This wouldn't end well.

"Maybe if you tell me what it is right now," I replied, trying to bargain with her.

"I thought you were going to be late?" she smirked.

"Just tell me," I whined.

"Glee needs a new choreographer, and you need to suggest it."

"Why me?" I questioned. Why couldn't she just do it herself?

"You're the most talented person in there, Rach. Mr Schue will listen to you."

I sighed. "I guess I can do that."

"Thanks, dear." She gave me a quick peck and then practically pushed me out the door.

Why did I get the feeling she was using me?

* * *

Nothing was really the same after that day.

We didn't kiss near as often anymore. She would always find some excuse to not hang out at her house with me after school. She wouldn't respond when I would send her flirty texts during the day. Rachel would barely even look me in the eyes, and she loved my eyes!

I had no clue what was going on, and she certainly wasn't telling me. When we talked, she would only answer my questions in as few words as possible. If she didn't like what I had asked, she would just walk away or hang up the phone.

It hurt me, and I knew it hurt her too. After a couple of weeks, I decided we couldn't keep living like this. So I did something drastic: I skipped mandatory Saturday Cheerios practice.

She wasn't expecting me, so I knew she couldn't make excuses when I showed up at her house, just like she did whenever I wasn't talking to her. With this confidence, I knocked and was transported back to that summer day.

Rachel opened the door smiling, but that smile vanished the second she saw me.

"I can't hang out right now, Quinn," she said, talking to her feet. "I've got lots of homework to catch up on."

"Rach, we're in the same classes," I reminded her.

She sighed, knowing she had been caught, and moved out of the doorway so I could come in. It was a shallow victory, but a victory for me nonetheless.

"I need to talk to you," I stated. She nodded absentmindedly and led the way to her room. I could hear her fathers in the kitchen, so she was giving us some privacy.

The moment she closed the door, I rounded on her. "Rach, what's wrong?"

She avoided my eyes. "Nothing."

"Please don't lie to me. You've been avoiding me constantly for weeks. Is this because I'm in Glee Club?" I asked. It had all started right after I joined up, so I figured that might have something to do with it.

"No, Quinn. There's nothing wrong. You-" Then I found her eyes, and her defense melted. She sat down on the bed, defeated. "No, I can't lie."

"So tell me what's going on," I begged, joining her on the bed and taking her hands in mine. She slowly pulled hers away. Ouch.

"You used me," she stated bluntly, tears in her eyes.

"What?" I looked at her in confusion. "When did I do that?"

"You used me to get rid of Mr Schue."

"Oh."

"Why? Why did you join Glee just to bring it down?" she questioned.

"I didn't join for that," I whispered. "I joined Glee because we were growing apart. Plus you were totally moving in on my man." She smiled a bit at this. "But I was only allowed to join if I became Coach Sylvester's spy. She wants Glee gone."

"And so you made me a part of this plan?" The smile had disappeared.

"Kind of?" I didn't know what to say to her. "But I didn't have a choice in the matter."

"You could've just stayed away from Glee. I didn't ask you to join. If you had just shown up at my house some afternoons instead of having make out sessions with Finn, we wouldn't have any problems!" she cried.

"I have to keep Finn in any way possible," I reminded her.

"You don't even like Finn!" she yelled. "You're just using him to be popular!" Then her entire expression changed as something clicked in her mind. "Just like you used… me. Do you even like me, Quinn?"

My heart ripped. The fact that she would even think that. "Rachel, I love you."

Rachel closed her eyes, as if she was trying to calm down. I could tell she didn't want to yell at me anymore. "You sure have a funny way of showing it," she muttered.

I just about lost it. "I'm sorry that I can't walk down the halls of McKinley with you on my arm. I am! I'm sorry that I can't introduce you to my parents as my girlfriend, that I can't take you on dates to public places. But you have no idea what I went through before I came here. I was friendless and teased and I can't go back to that! I want to fit in somewhere. I want to feel like I belong, and to do that I have to be a Cheerio and I have to have Finn." Suddenly she was looking at me with absolute rage.

She stood up and opened her bedroom door. "Get out of my house, Quinn Fabray."

"What did I say?" I questioned, standing up anyway. I had just poured my heart out to her and she looked like she was ready to kill me. She had never been that angry before.

"Get out."

"Are you really letting a stupid bet break us apart like this?" I tried, not knowing what was going on.

"Don't make me go get my fathers, Quinn."

I sighed and slowly walked out with just as many questions as I had walked in with. Except this time, the answers hit me like a ton of bricks when I was about a block away, running over our conversation in my mind.

We had practically been the same person before we met each other. Both of us were friendless and teased back then. Except now I had moved up in popularity while she stayed grounded. She could've easily chosen to move up, to be the star she truly is, but she chose me. Whereas I had chosen to be popular to try to find a place to belong. That was a stupid move on my part. I belonged with Rachel, and we both knew it.

But there was nothing I could do about it. High school was a game, and I couldn't just quit and start over in the middle of it; I had to play till the end whether I liked it or not. At least that's what I thought at the time.

* * *

After Quinn left, I started making apology cookies. Not for her, she didn't deserve any, but for Mr Schue. I was the one who told him his choreography sucked, so I had to make up for it.

Who did Quinn think she was? I was that girl too, and yet I had kept my priorities straight. Her and her idiotic quest for popularity, as if it would gain her the acceptance she never had. That wasn't how it worked, and she would figure it out one day. The question was would I accept her back when that day came?

It wasn't tomorrow, though, so I had a while to think about it. A more pressing matter was whether I would continue pursuing Finn. Yeah, we had made a bet, but Quinn was probably ready to give it up. It really was tearing us apart, but it was also good for our act. In the end, I knew we were both too stubborn to just quit.

So the act continued on.

* * *

"The goal is to win, and now that Mr Schuester has agreed to let us hire Dakota Stanley, we can," Santana argued. I distractedly nodded my head in agreement.

"But he doesn't want us to, he just doesn't have the confidence to coach us anymore. Guys are real sensitive when it comes to this kind of stuff," Finn stated.

"And that's MY fault?" questioned Rachel. No, dear. It wasn't your fault; it was mine. She looked as if she was ready to tell everyone else this, but she kept acting.

"See anyone else in here with a plate of 'I'm sorry' cookies? I don't. Just you," Finn said. I wasn't going to allow this. He couldn't just beat her down when it wasn't even her fault!

I stood up to save her. "I'm bored." It was random, but it got everyone's attention off of Rachel. "All those in favor of hiring Dakota Stanley?"

Everyone except Finn raised their hand. Even Rachel did, although she shot me a glare that I didn't think possible from her when she raised her hand. She was still unbelievably pissed at me, and I had found absolutely no way to corner her and apologize.

* * *

I couldn't even handle being in the same room with her. Unfortunately, when I stormed out Finn followed along like a puppy.

"Hey! Wait up!" Well, at least it wasn't Quinn coming after me. "You can't do this to Mr Schuester." Great. Another lecture.

"What?" I questioned. "Make him a hero? Once we hire Dakota and win Nationals, he'll thank me for it. You heard Santana, it's all about winning." I didn't really believe that, but Quinn had dug me into this hole and there was no way out.

"Since when?" he asked in frustration.

"You have your popular clique and your football and your cliche of a blonde girlfriend." Who should be my girlfriend, no matter how furious I was with her at the time. "Glee is my one shot. If this doesn't work out, then my whole high school life will be nothing but an embarrassment."

"W-what's a cliche? Is that a bad thing?" I almost walked away then and there. It was no use talking to an idiot. "Wait wait wait. Is this one of those chick things where you're pissed about one thing but you're just pretending like you're pissed about something else?" Yes. The person I loved the most was an asshole who used me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

"Well for a while there you were kind of all over me, and now you just yell at me all the time." I had backed off from him when I found out Quinn was using me. It wasn't as fun trying to steal him away if I couldn't rub it in her face when I made progress. "It makes me think you're still upset about what happened in the auditorium."

"I'm not," I assured him, walking away. "I've moved on and I'm focusing on my career now." If by career you mean Quinn.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he called after me. Was he still on about that?

I spun around. Time to reel him back in. "No. And neither do you. It's kind of ironic how you're Mr Popular and I'm just this nobody that everybody makes fun of, but I have enough confidence to say out loud that what happened between us in the auditorium was real." Real as Quinn's love of men. I paused for dramatic effect. "You have feelings for me and you just don't have the guts to admit it. We're hiring Dakota Stanley." Because I no longer had any control over that. I couldn't just have a change of heart now that I knew what Quinn was planning.

Then it was time for a dramatic storm off! "Even if it means me quitting?"

I paused for a moment. What did it matter anymore? I had already gotten him to notice me which was pretty much my reasoning for pulling him into Glee. "Yes."

* * *

It was official. My life was over. I would never see a Rachel Berry smile again.

She just kept GLARING at me, and it hurt.

Then there was the whole fiasco in which we went to meet with Dakota Stanley. She had to continue acting like she was all for the idea, when I could feel her mentally shooting daggers at me. It grew even worse when she realized I was trying to tear apart Mercedes and Kurt's friendship.

Oh, and she had Tina with her as well during this, almost as if she wanted to remind me of that day.

She was trying her best to provoke me, and it worked. Luckily, I knew her weakness.

* * *

I didn't have any suspicions when Quinn suggested we hold a car wash to raise the money to hire Dakota Stanley. I should've known she was up to no good when she said the Cheerios would help us. But I didn't.

Quinn Fabray in a cheerleading outfit is a sight to behold. Quinn Fabray in the outfit she wore to the car wash… How was I supposed to stay mad at her when all I wanted was to take her up against a car?

And she called me the evil mastermind.

* * *

**Song: What If- Coldplay**


	13. Masochist

_"She says you're a masochist for falling for me_

_so roll up your sleeves."_

__**Centered around Preggers.**

She found me in the auditorium. I had sought shelter in there after hearing the news instead of just going home. It probably would've been easier to avoid her that way, but it would've probably brought on questions from my mother about my emotional state. I didn't want to answer those questions. Not then. Not ever.

Except I couldn't just go to Glee Club and try to pretend everything was normal, either. So I skipped. That was something I wasn't really allowed to do in her book, though, which was why she came looking for me.

The auditorium was a safe place for me, having been the place I met Rachel. It held so many happy memories of sneaking off during freshman year to sit in there and talk or duet while one of us played the piano. If I hid in a place that was filled with happiness, the pain would just disappear, right?

"Hey." I didn't look up from staring numbly at the empty stage. She sat down beside me. It was almost like Freshman Orientation all over again, seeing as we were in the exact seats from that day.

"Speaking to me again?" I asked quietly, not breaking my staring contest with the stage.

"I just… You weren't in rehearsal," she stated. I nodded. "Why?"

"Is that all you came here for, Rach? To badger me about Glee?" I questioned, finally looking at her.

"Actually I wanted to give you a chance to apologize." Hm. Guess my plan worked after all. I knew she wouldn't be able to resist me. Somehow it didn't feel as good as I thought it would. I didn't really feel anything at all in that moment, but that didn't mean I didn't need to fix what little I could.

I sighed. "Sorry for being an insensitive ass."

She smiled weakly at me, not even berating my language. "So we're good now?"

"Yeah."

"Then you wouldn't mind wearing your car wash outfit to my house sometime?" she teased.

"I don't think you'll want me to," I stated, once again avoiding her eyes.

"I just said I wanted you to… I was joking though you don't have to if-" This is the part where I remember meeting her eyes, seeing the love and concern for me in them, before completely breaking down and sobbing.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Rachel I'm pregnant."

* * *

For the first few seconds, I stared at her in shock. Then, I lifted the armrest between us up so I could pull her into a hug. For a while, I let her just cry into me. I never said anything, because I knew this was one of the only times when I shouldn't talk. When she wanted me to say something, I would, but until then I would just be there for her to cry on. That's what she needed, really.

I probably should've had an opinion on the fact that she was pregnant, but like Quinn, my mind was numb to everything. All that crossed my mind was taking care of the girl I loved who was so hurt, hoping desperately that the tears would go away in due time.

Truth be told, I have no idea how long we sat there. Time sort of loses meaning in the auditorium. It doesn't matter if I'm singing or just sitting there reminiscing. Or, in this case, holding Quinn.

When she finally looked up at me, red-eyed and pitiful, my heart broke. I had never seen this completely defenseless side of her before. "Thanks for being here."

"I'll always be here for you, Quinn," I replied, and she smiled. Or at least she tried. It came out more of a grimace, but it's the thought that counts.

"I don't know why. I've put you through so much," she murmured, glancing back at the stage.

"Hey," I said, taking her hands in mine. "Look at me." When those gorgeous hazel eyes that were filled with so much pain were focused on mine, I continued. "Quinn, you're human. You make mistakes. That's just the way it is. You can't be perfect like me." At this, she smirked, which was just what I wanted from her at the moment. A smirk was almost a smile and that was good enough. "But what you need to know is that I love you. No matter how much I just want to slap you so you'll see straight sometimes, I love you. And I'm going to be here for you through it all."

"Rachel…" And then she was breaking down again, tears forming in her eyes. She clung to me. I thought it was going to turn into another crying session, which I was perfectly fine with, but then she whispered, "I'm so glad I met you."

"Me too, Quinn," I could feel my own tears starting, so I gripped her tighter. "Me too."

* * *

When I finally gathered up enough strength to leave the auditorium, I knew what I had to do. So I took Rachel's hand and held onto her until we reached the doors.

"You sure you'll be okay?" she asked when there was nowhere else to go but through the doors and back to reality. The second I walked out that door, I would have to go back to hating her and I didn't want to do that. She was the only person that truly cared about me, and I was absolutely horrible to her.

"Yeah," I said, nodding to reassure her when my voice cracked. "Can I come over this afternoon?"

"Of course. I'll even let you pick out the movie if you want," she smiled at me. All my troubles disappeared at the sight of that smile.

"Do you have Mary Poppins?" I questioned. "It's my favorite musical."

"So I finally get to know the elusive Quinn Fabray's favorite musical after keeping it a secret for over a year?" she grinned before kissing me. If all my problems were gone before, they were certainly far away after that. "Lucky me. And yes, I do own Mary Poppins."

"I'm the lucky one," I replied. "to have someone like you in my life." This made her blush. And let me just tell you, it's not an easy thing to make Rachel Berry blush without being inappropriate.

"What? Just because I let you pick the movie for once?" she asked, trying to cover up her blushing with a smirk.

"No, well yeah that too, but you're just the most incredible person and I cannot believe that you grace me with your presence every day. Even when I do horrible things to you like call you really stupid nicknames, at the end of the day you still kiss me and tell me everything's going to be alright."

"Well, it will be alright. We'll make it through high school together," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, we will," I agreed. Filled with confidence, I let go of her hand and pushed open the door.

And then everything crashed back into me.

Yet I kept calm, because I could sense her watching me from behind the auditorium door. I had to be strong for her.

With that in mind, I went to my locker to get the books I would need for homework. Unfortunately, Finn cornered me afterwards to know why I had been silent all day. So I kept up my streak of making completely idiotic decisions and told him I was pregnant with his child. And he believed me, even though we never had sex.

I just… I couldn't tell him the truth. He would break up with me and then I would lose my place at the top of the food chain when he told everyone about whose child I was actually pregnant with. He would go running to Rachel, and I would lose the bet and fall even further from the top when I wasn't able to date anyone.

It was a really stupid excuse, but I convinced myself it was the reality. Besides, it was better than facing the truth. It would come out eventually, but I couldn't handle it at the moment.

If I was listed in the dictionary, it would look something like this: Quinn Fabray- always making stupid decisions because she can't handle the reality of anything. This includes, but is not limited to, her sexuality, her social status, and her relationships with people. She needs to fucking gain some courage before she loses everything.

* * *

She did not. She… How could she? Popularity was one thing, but to ruin someone's life over it?

I ambushed her on her way to Glee Club the next day, pulling her into the bathroom I had just emptied.

"What?" she questioned when we were both safely inside.

"How could you do this?" I glared at her, trying to come up with the meanest look possible, which was really hard because it was not in my nature to be cruel to anyone, let alone Quinn.

"What… did I do?" she asked in confusion. "Did I forget an anniversary or something because if that's it I-"

"I've accepted your lies before, Quinn," I said, cutting her off. "But this time you've gone too far."

"Jesus, Rachel! Tell me what I did!" she cried, her faced filled with worry.

"You told Finn that it's his baby!" I yelled. "I know for a fact you haven't slept with him!"

"Oh really? How do you know that?" she asked, stepping forward with a grin, trying to flirt with me. No. That wasn't happening. While I was happy she wasn't completely emotionless anymore, she couldn't do that. I shoved her back.

"You're gay, Quinn! You told me that the first day we met. Unless Finn got you really drunk like Noah did, and I highly doubt that happened because Finn wouldn't do that."

She sighed and wouldn't look at me. "Fine. Yes, it's Puck's, but I can't just tell people that. Finn would dump me faster than anything and I'm going to need him when it gets around that I'm pregnant."

"I'm really disappointed in you. Finn may be a moron, but that doesn't justify ruining his life for your chance to be popular." It was my turn to walk out on her. I couldn't even stand to look at her anymore.

"Rachel…" she pleaded, and as much as I wanted to turn around and comfort her, to wipe the tears forming in her beautiful eyes away, I couldn't. She couldn't just destroy a person and get my sympathy.

I stopped at the door before going out. "If you don't tell him the truth, then I will."

And so I left her there, where she could cry on her own. I hurried to the auditorium, wanting to cry alone myself. It didn't matter that I was missing Glee. I wouldn't be able to go in there because of the off chance she might show up.

I would blame it on my not getting the West Side Story solo, but in reality it was all her.

* * *

It was like my entire world was ending. Rachel had told me she would love me no matter what, and she had just walked out that door. Did that mean she didn't love me anymore? It hurt to even think that.

I couldn't stay in the bathroom though. Someone could just walk in on me having a breakdown and we couldn't have it getting out that I was weak. So I did the sensible thing and skipped Glee in favor of running to my car to cry. It was raining out, so if anyone saw me in the parking lot they couldn't tell I was crying.

Unfortunately when I got in my car there was someone else there. How she got in when it was locked, I'll never know, but there was some lady there, offering to help me with my pregnancy. If I hadn't been so emotionally unstable from my meeting with Rachel, I might not have accepted her help, but I was weak.

I was always weak. My insane need for popularity and to fit in was just a sign of that. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't publicly date Rachel for fear of retaliation. My weakness was not only hurting myself, but hurting others as well.

If I wasn't so damn weak, Rachel wouldn't be mad at me, I wouldn't be pregnant, and I would be dating the person I love instead of a person I merely tolerated.

* * *

She pulled me into a bathroom when I was on my way to English. This was becoming a daily thing, one of us pulling the other into the bathroom. Normally, I would've been ecstatic about it, but I was just annoyed.

"What do you want, Quinn?" I questioned, glaring at her. "Have you decided to tell Finn?"

"You quit Glee," she stated. It was true. I had masked it as not getting the solo, but I couldn't stand being in the same room as her. So I just devoted my entire efforts to the school's musical. It's not like I had stopped singing or anything. I had just stopped singing with her.

"Yes. Now if that's all you wanted I really need to get to-"

"Why?"

"My talents weren't being showcased there," I replied, giving her the answer I gave everyone else.

"Rachel, don't give me the acting bullshit," she growled. "You and Tina are friends and I know you could care less whether she gets one solo."

"Obviously you don't know me as well as you think then, Quinn," I retorted, but she was right.

"This is about me, isn't it?" she asked, finally getting it.

"What makes you believe that?" I asked, not giving in just yet.

"Because this your dream, Rachel, to perform."

"I'm still performing, just not in a place that doesn't appreciate my talent."

"This is to spite me, isn't it?" When I didn't answer her, she got the message. "You're unbelievable!"

Then she was storming out, and I was left to think about how much I hated us fighting.

* * *

**Song: Masochist- Ingrid Michaelson**

**A/N: Lots of sadness and angst. Sorry! On my plot map, I seriously have this part of the story titled, "Pregnancy: Quinn spirals down, serious fights, angst", haha. Though I can't wait to write the season two episodes that are going to have more angst than I know what to do with. Oh the things poor Quinn and Rachel are going to go through... It comes to a point where they're not even acting anymore... But that's not for quite a while, both for you guys and for me (I'm working on New Year's Eve 2 as of right now), so no need to worry right now. Just forget I said anything.**

** So thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review because they do help me write (like seriously, you guys are getting a 7.5k chapter of faberry fluff after sectionals because of your reviews when I was writing it last week).**


	14. What is This Feeling?

_"Loathing, unadulterated loathing_

_for your face, your voice, your clothing_

_let's just say- I loathe it all!"_

__**Centered around The Rhodes Not Taken.**

God was she going to be pissed at me if she heard Mr Schue gave me her solo in Don't Stop Believin'. When I joined Glee, it had been to get closer to her, not replace her.

Nothing was going as I wanted it to. Why couldn't everything be simple like last year? I would give anything at this point to just watch Funny Girl and cuddle with Rachel. But that wasn't happening, no matter how much I wished. Freshman year was over, and we had problems.

At the moment, mainly one problem.

And that exact problem was the reason I had to run out of class during Glee rehearsal.

Dammit Puck.

But I couldn't bring myself to blame him for the problems with Rachel. Sure, he was the reason I had a person growing inside me, but I was the one lying. It was all my fault that Rachel was furious, that she quit Glee. I wanted everything to be right between us, except I couldn't do the one thing that would make it right.

So after spending the rest of rehearsal thinking in a bathroom stall, I finally knew what I had to do. Or, at least, some of it. You see, I wasn't good at master plans like Rachel. I just had to make small ones and then regroup. Maybe that's why I was never really any good at chess.

Either way, stage one of Operation: Win Back Rachel Berry commenced when I waltzed up to Finn at his locker later that day.

"Oh, hey Quinn. Are you okay after..?" he let the question hang in the air, knowing better than to say it out loud.

"I'm fine, thank you," I replied nonchalantly. "But I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Get Berry back in Glee," I stated.

He looked at me in confusion. "But you hate Rachel."

"True." Not true. "But she's our only chance at winning anything. You know that. So get her back, I don't care how."

"Okay…" He still looked a bit unsure, but my job was done. I twirled around and walked off, parting the crowded hall along the way.

* * *

Creepy creep creep creep creep.

At first it started out as a simple interview for the school newspaper, which I accepted as practice for the interviews I would get when I reached Broadway. But then it just turned creepy and I wished more than ever that I wasn't on bad terms with Quinn at the moment so she could make sure Jacob Ben Israel was slushied.

He wanted to see me in my bra? Um, no thanks. That view was reserved for Quinn and Quinn only (though it had only happened once in a moment of intense passion and probably wasn't going to happen again with the way things were as of late).

Thank goodness the original creep arrived and saved me from doing something that I would have regretted. Sandy cleared Jacob out, and then Finn sauntered in. Wait… Finn?

I thought at first he was there to convince me to come back to Glee, which wasn't happening with Quinn being there, but then when I accused him of this he denied it and started complimenting me. What was going on? He obviously couldn't have some ulterior motive because he wasn't smart enough to think that way, so was he actually saying nice things to me and meaning it? He even offered to run through lines with me?

Even though I was angry with Quinn, that didn't mean the bet wouldn't continue on. So I took advantage of the opportunity and didn't back down.

* * *

No. This was not part of the plan.

Mr Schue was not supposed to go out and find some replacement for Rachel. Finn was going to lure her back in with his moronic charm. This couldn't happen.

Yet there she was, April Rhodes, singing the song I heard Rachel sing during rehearsals yesterday when I hid in the auditorium to watch.

When she first started singing, I glared at Finn. This was his fault and I wouldn't let him forget it for a second. He avoided eye contact with me and shifted in his seat guiltily. There was no way she was replacing Rachel. I would have her back in the choir room if it was the last thing I did.

When the song was over, I plastered on one of my fake smiles so none of the others would know something was up. Then, I leaned over and whispered in Finn's ear, "You better fix this."

He nodded, not questioning me. I didn't even get to use my story I made up about why I didn't like April Rhodes. Truth was, she was a pretty damn good singer (she wasn't Rachel Berry good, but still). If April won over the other Glee members who all mostly hated Rachel, then there would be no hope of her coming back.

Rachel had to come back. She couldn't just give up on her chance to shine because of me.

* * *

Finn asked me out on a date!

I probably should've been questioning his motives, but at the moment I didn't care. All I could think about was the fact that he was finally FINALLY starting to show some interest in me.

It was literally all I could think about. So much that when Sandy Ryerson started throwing insults at me, it took me a second to realize it. Then came the inevitable tears at being insulted by someone who wasn't Quinn which meant that he actually meant it, and I ran to the bathroom.

I had been avoiding all school bathrooms as much as possible since they seemed to be the place where Quinn and I always met up, so I internally panicked when the door opened. Then I noticed it was not the love of my life who walked through the door, just that trampy April Rhodes that they had gotten to replace me.

I played along with her sympathetic act, and we talked about being stars. Afterwards she asked me for drugs, which I obviously would never have, and even if I did I wouldn't have given them to her.

Then she mentioned Finn, and I just about snapped. Only Quinn and I could play the Finn game. She wasn't allowed in. So I told her off.

"I think your behavior is totally inappropriate. And your presence in this school is a complete travesty. What you choose to do with your life is your own business, but don't go around screwing up everyone else's."

I had expected her to back down then and there, but that wasn't exactly the case. "I'm not afraid of you, sweetie. There was a time when I was the biggest star around here, and now that I've got that back, I'm never letting it go."

That was okay with me. I always wanted a real rival. So I let her leave and think she had won. I would be rid of her soon enough.

At the moment though, I couldn't worry about how best to kick her ass. No, I had to deal with the date with Finn that night.

It started out simple enough. He arrived at my house, met my dads, and took me to the bowling alley. Standard date procedure for Quinn and me (though she had never announced to my dads that we were going on a date), except we had never gone bowling. The entire ride over there, I wondered why she had never taken me bowling. But then when we got there and I was forced to wear awful rental bowling shoes and was faced with having to stick my fingers into the unknown depths of a bowling ball, I realized why.

Quinn had known I would never like bowling. That the entire act, from the bowling shoes to the grease filled food, would gross me out. At least, that's what I hoped. I didn't want to think that she hadn't taken me bowling because she was afraid of being seen with me.

I put a brave face on for Finn, because I really wanted to win him over, and let him teach me how to bowl. Though I soon figured out that I was extremely bad at it. Singing was my thing, and it didn't overlap with bowling in any way at all.

When the game was finally over, he was hungry so I let him buy us pizza. There wasn't anything vegan or even vegetarian at that place, so I went against everything I believed in and took a single bite of pizza just to please him. Immediately I was repulsed and reminded of how Quinn would never take me anywhere that wouldn't cater to my dietary needs.

Speaking of Quinn, even though we were fighting, I really wanted to know how her singing voice was progressing. So I asked about Glee. That was a mistake. I didn't hear a single thing about Quinn, just that everyone misses me, which was a complete lie. Also he said something about appreciating me that I didn't have time to ponder because he made me get up and try bowling one last time.

In a complete act of desperation, I kissed the bowling ball so that maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't go in the gutter and I wouldn't continue embarrassing myself with my lack of talent in bowling.

When I got a totally unexpected strike, I jumped into his arms without thinking. Then when I pulled away, I decided spur of the moment to try kissing him again. Unfortunately, instead of his declarations of love to me that I expected after having to put up with nasty shoes and eating pizza and all, he just told me to come back to Glee.

"What about Quinn?" I questioned. Was he going to break it off with her? Was I going to win?

"I don't know what's gonna happen in the future, I just know that I wanna spend more time with you now." It wasn't a definite answer, but it was a start, and it might make being in the same room as her bearable.

"I… I'll have to quit the play," I stated just so he would know how much I was giving up for this. He looked a bit apprehensive, so I confirmed that I would indeed do it.

But then when I walked in the choir room the next day to announce my return, I was met with the news. They all knew Quinn's secret now, and I realized Glee would be even harder to stomach with them whispering about it. So I did what I always do in a bad situation and stormed out. Though I knew what I had to do. As much as I wanted to go warn Quinn about everyone knowing, Finn was who I had to deal with first.

* * *

I witnessed Rachel slapping Finn, and immediately wondered what that was about. Did she somehow find out that I was the one who told him to get her back into Glee? It was the only explanation I could come up with, but I knew it probably wasn't right.

She wasn't going anywhere near the bathrooms anymore, so I couldn't corner her there. I decided the best course of action would be to confront her after her rehearsal that afternoon. Which was why I was hiding in my seat from Freshman Orientation while she ran through lines with her cast, instead of at home getting ready for Glee's Invitational that night. It would be a tight squeeze, where I would probably have to get ready for it in the bathroom after my confrontation with Rachel, because there was no way I'd be able to make it home and back in enough time.

I was so caught up in my own mind that I didn't even notice when rehearsal ended and footsteps approached me.

"You know you really shouldn't keep sneaking in to these." I about jumped out of my seat.

"Jesus, Rachel! Give a little warning next time you sneak up on me." She smiled lightly at me. Wait, she smiled?

"Maybe next time you shouldn't space out so much that it's considered sneaking," she replied, sitting down. "Why do you come to these anyway?"

We were having a civil conversation. I decided not to question it and just consider it the magic of the auditorium. "I love hearing you sing, and if you don't sing in Glee every day then I have to find another way." She looked away from me then, but I could still see the blush that was rising on her cheeks. "So how are you, Rachel?"

"I'm…" She seemed to be picking out her words very carefully. "Okay. I went out on a date with Finn last night that turned out just to be a ploy to get me back to Glee. I'm completely in charge of the musical now so that's stressful. Then there's the problem where my best friend and I aren't talking when I know she needs me right now but I can't even stand to look at her without being hurt. So yeah. I'd say I'm okay."

For a second I couldn't find words, and then all I could find was her name. "Rachel…"

"I'm fine, Quinn. Really." But she wasn't. Not at all.

"Can we just talk through this?" She nodded slightly, and I continued on. "The Finn thing. I kind of, and please don't freak out on me and storm away, okay? I kind of told Finn that he needed to get you back in Glee by doing whatever he could. You just wouldn't come near me and I couldn't handle you giving up something you love so much just because of me. And you should know that I'm sorry."

"Finn said he did it so he could get a music scholarship," she muttered.

"Yeah, I think that was Ms Pillsbury's way of getting you back. She doesn't like April being around Mr Schue." I grinned at her. "So was that why you slapped Finn earlier?"

"Yeah. It was more acting than anything. I kind of suspected he had a motive when he was so blatantly flirting with me. Though when I do finally get him and win the bet, I want it to be from my own efforts and not from you," she replied, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. "We're still doing this bet with everything going on?"

"Well I'm not giving in and letting you win just because of some minor bumps in the road."

I sighed. "Okay. Now, about the musical. I really think it would be better if you just came back to Glee." She started to protest, but I held my hand up. "The way you worked today, you're going to drive yourself into the ground. Your grades will start to slip and then you'll be even more stressed. Also I've heard it's kind of impossible to play the lead and direct."

She closed her eyes for a minute, and I just waited on her to start yelling at me for not believing in her talents or something. But then she opened them and said, "You're right."

This shocked me, because I had been fully expecting a rant of epic proportions, but I quickly recovered and addressed her final issue. "As for the last one, I think we just fixed it."

She finally looked back at me. "I'm still not happy with your decision."

"Neither am I," I agreed.

"But I can't let you go through this alone. Plus I'm selfish and need you myself because, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't got a lot of friends." She pulled me in for a hug. I found myself melting into the arms that hadn't held me for days. Everything would be alright.

"Are we okay?" I asked, needing confirmation.

"Yeah," she whispered as we broke apart. "But there's something you should know."

"What?"

"Glee found out."

"About us?"

"No! About… you being pregnant." I was going to kill Finn.

"W-what? How?" I questioned. It was only a matter of time before the whole school knew, and then my parents.

"I don't know. But when I went in the choir room today they mentioned it. I'm sorry." She brought me back into another hug, knowing that I needed it then. She knew everything about me.

We stayed like that until I came to my senses and remembered that I had to prepare for the show.

* * *

Why is it that Quinn looks so damn attractive in _everything_ she wears? At first, I thought it was just the cheerleading outfit. Then there was the car wash outfit. And now… Now there was the Western outfit.

Then they started dancing and singing and she… Words don't even describe how attractive I found her when she was performing.

So I decided I had to go backstage and make out with her while she was still in that outfit because I would never forgive myself if I didn't. Except April and Mr Schue were blocking the one hallway to get to Quinn. Which meant I had to wait until they were gone before I could go find her and just hope she hadn't changed yet for the next number.

Unfortunately, when I got to the dressing room, they were all changed and Mr Schue was talking about how they couldn't go on for the next song because April was gone. I knew it was then my time to put aside everything and join again. After my talk with Quinn earlier, I felt like I could finally go back to Glee. If it just so happened that I saved the day while doing it, then the better for me.

While singing Somebody to Love, I had to force myself to look at Finn and not Quinn. Then somehow I found us standing by each other at one point in the song and it got even harder. I didn't want to sing to Finn. I wanted to sing to her. But I made it through anyway.

When it was over and I was on my way home with my dads, I texted her.

_Don't you think it was a little risky when you sang beside me?_

She immediately answered.

_**I can't help you took April's place. She was always beside me in case I needed to use plan B to get rid of her and bring you back.**_

_What was plan B?_

_**Push her off the stage and pull you up to sing the rest. ;)**_

_Quinn!_

_**What? I'm allowed to be an evil mastermind too, you know.**_

_Not when it involves the safety of others!_

_**I wasn't actually going to do it, Rach. I figured you'd be leaping into my arms after you saw me in the first number. Kinda a bit disappointed you didn't.**_

I laughed at this.

_I was on my way to have a make out session in the janitor's closet but Mr Schue and April were blocking the hallway._

_**Damn. Well, I could always put it back on and we could have this make out session now instead? It's been too long since I last kissed you.**_

_Quinn, as much as I want to, the school's locked. Not to mention the fact that I'm at home now._

_**Tomorrow after Glee? (:**_

_Maybe. Goodnight, Quinn._

_**Goodnight, Rachel. (:**_

* * *

**Song: What is This Feeling- Wicked **

**A/N: Sorry if this seemed all over the place. With Rachel and Quinn avoiding interaction, they were going to have to do their own things which creates jumpy POV changes. Also yes, Rachel is out of character when she eats pizza. Not my fault. That goes to Ryan Murphy. I'm just the one who has to try and explain Rachel's reasoning behind it. Ryan get your shit together I am tired of having to clean up your mess.**


	15. Always on My Mind

**A/N: Just a small semi-fluffy chapter because they fight too much and also because I really didn't like this episode that much.**

**Also since this is the last update before season four of Glee starts, I want to clarify something. I am 98% sure that this story will only go through season three. I have everything plotted out that far, and I like where I'm going to end it. But on the off chance that season four of Glee somehow manages to be something I can work with and _want_ to work with, it'll probably be a sequel. I highly doubt this will happen since Dianna hasn't even been in the country to fil Glee so there's no Quinn as of right now, which means no Faberry interaction for me to work around in the episodes. This would give me a lot more freedom in what I can do with the characters, but I just don't know yet. I haven't even finished writing season one yet so I definitely don't know how I'll feel when I finally finish season three. So until I see the episodes and decide whether or not I want to write college Faberry, this story is going to pretend like season four doesn't exist and anything that happens in it is not going to effect these characters. That is all. Enjoy this chapter while I go enjoy early morning testing. I would absolutely love to come home to some reviews.**

* * *

_"Well I turn pale when she walks by_

_I am lost in her eyes_

_she is always on my mind."_

__**Centered around Vitamin-D.**

I woke up on Rachel's couch with my head in her lap just as Sandy showed up in a catsuit in Grease. For the first time in quite a while, I had felt safe and could sleep. After a disastrous day at school in which Coach almost caught on to my pregnancy, it was nice to just sleep knowing Rachel would keep watch over me.

I smiled at her lazily until she looked down and noticed I was awake. She beamed at me. "Morning, sleepyhead. You woke up just in time for the best part."

"Mmhm," I agreed, having no idea why she considered this the best part. When I was awake earlier, I hadn't even watched the movie; I watched her.

"Well aren't you going to watch it?" she asked, her eyes never letting go of mine. In the background I could hear the chorus of You're the One That I Want.

"I am watching it," I replied, grinning at her.

"Smooth," she commented. "But I'm nothing compared to Olivia Newton-John singing and dancing around in a catsuit."

"Then maybe you should put on a catsuit and sing and dance with me," I muttered.

She rolled her eyes. "You would like that, wouldn't you?"

"You would be sexy," I stated. "But then again, I find you sexy in just about everything, including your silly animal sweaters."

She smiled and shook her head. "Maybe one day we'll reenact this scene from Grease, but not today. You still have to help me pick songs for the girls' mashup in Glee."

I groaned and sat up. "Remind me when I signed up to help with that?"

"You signed up the moment you walked through my door this afternoon, knowing full and well that the day we're assigned a Glee project is the day I map it out," she answered, tucking a stray hair behind my ears.

"But I had a bad day," I whined. "Can't we just put in Funny Girl and sleep?"

She gaped at me. "Quinn Fabray! I'm appalled that you would even think to sleep during Funny Girl!"

I laughed at this. "In case you don't remember, _you_ slept the first time we watched Funny Girl together."

"Oh… Well…" The blush crept up on her face from being caught. "We still don't have time! Come on, we have to go pick out songs!" And with that, she took my hand and pulled me along as she ran up the stairs to her room.

* * *

When I walked into rehearsal the next day, the first thing I noticed was Quinn's absence. Then, when I mentioned it to the others, a cruel joke was made at her expense and it took everything I had in me not to storm out. They couldn't know I cared, though.

But I did care, and when Quinn announced to me that afternoon that she wouldn't be going to Glee rehearsals because she couldn't take the whispers anymore, it really made me angry. These people were supposed to be her friends, and yet they were the furthest thing from it.

I understood her logic, but that didn't mean I didn't have to do the thing the club would expect me to do and confront her about it in a public setting. After talking with her the day before, we decided the best time to do it would be after the boys performed their number.

"I haven't seen you at Glee rehearsals," I started when she opened her locker.

She looked at me with that face of indifference that she was so good at. "I'm not Superwoman. I know Glee is your whole life but I have the Cheerios, I'm on honor roll, I have friends." She started to walk away, and I knew I had to stop her.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. No one at Glee is gonna judge you." That was a lie, but I was willing to tell it because it was what the character I had built this year would say. "Look, I know everyone expects us to be enemies and be in competition, but I don't hate you."

"Why not?" she questioned. "I've been awful to you." Because I love you so much and could never hate you.

"That was before you knew what it felt like to be me, an outsider." My character wasn't supposed to know that she had been an outsider as well, so I played it off. "More people are gonna start finding out about this, and you're gonna need friends who can relate."

"How can you relate to what I'm going through?" she asked with malice.

"You don't think people whisper about me in the lunchrooms, or draw pornographic pictures of me on the bathroom walls?"

"That was me, actually," she admitted. Oh. That would explain a lot.

I decided it would be best to ignore that comment. "Look, I don't agree with the choice you're making, but you're gonna need Glee. You have seven months of your youth left. You should enjoy it. And let's face it, in a couple of months, that cheerleading uniform isn't gonna fit and we're gonna be all you have left." Maybe, just maybe, when that happened she would finally be able to properly date me again. "Just come back to practice. Boys versus girls; it's fun. And we could certainly use your voice right now. You're actually a good singer, Quinn. Occasionally sharp, but that's just because you lack my years of training."

I could see my Quinn holding back from rolling her eyes. We had to be serious at the moment, and neither of us could crack. "I would have tortured you if the roles were reversed, you know?"

"I know." Then we were done, and I had to walk away. End scene.

* * *

I couldn't leave it at that. I hated being a bitch to Rachel. It was the absolute worst part of my position. Well, besides the fact that I couldn't shove her into the lockers and make out with her anytime I pleased. So I settled for the next best thing and pulled her into the closest janitor's closet.

"Quinn what-" But I stopped her words by pushing her up against the door and attacking her mouth fiercely. She needed to know how sorry I was.

"Sorry for being a bitch, Rach," I said when we came up for air.

"But you weren't really. You were more like… Indifferent. I was a bit worried that you weren't bitchy enough for it to be believable," she replied. Even in the semi darkness, I could see her grin.

"Hey!" I cried, but before I could protest anymore, she silenced me with a kiss. Though this one didn't last near as long.

"So. Pornographic pictures," she stated with a smirk, and I felt my cheeks burning. "Explain."

"Ah… Um…" I couldn't find words. "It was for the act." I always blamed it all on the act.

"Mmhm. I'm sure," she said. "Because most bullies draw pictures like that. I think one Quinn Fabray might have a crush on me." She playfully placed a kiss on my nose (how she could see it in the dark, I'm not sure).

"Maybe," I replied, going along with her.

"Oh most definitely," she said, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"And how would you know?" I questioned, smirking. "I hear you're not on very good terms with that Quinn girl."

"That's just what she wants you to think," she answered, kissing me. "Now let's get to Glee before the others start worrying."

"Or we could stay in here?" I suggested hopefully.

"Quinn," she warned. "I'm going out this door now, and I expect you at rehearsal in the next ten minutes. If you're late… well… that'll be your loss."

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll be there."

"Looking forward to it." And with a flash of light, she was gone.

* * *

Quinn did, in fact, show up for rehearsal. That meant I didn't have to ban janitor's closest sessions which was good because I doubt I would've been able to.

Kurt also showed up and told us that the boys had used drugs to enhance their performance. I knew that I would have to confront Finn about this, so that's exactly what I did. Though, it didn't really help that much. I could just turn them in to Mr Schue, but that would almost be like admitting that we wouldn't be able to beat them. Which meant that the only way to ensure a fair competition was to level the playing field.

So I may or may not have gone to the nurse and demanded she give us the same thing she gave the boys.

* * *

Dear God Rachel is never having that drug again. She talked ten times faster than she normally did. But her smile. Damn her smile was even brighter than usual. Maybe she could have it every once in a while.

Though Mr Schue's wife is back after me. I never told Rachel about her. I sort of felt like I needed to make the decision about her offer on my own (not to mention Rachel wasn't talking to me when it first occurred).

There was no way I could keep the baby. It just wasn't possible. When my parents found out about it, my life was already going to be hell. I didn't need to bring the added stress of having a kid into that mix. So I approached Mrs Schuester and told her. I would tell Rachel soon enough. Just not then.

Rachel had enough to deal with at the moment, what with the blame of the whole vitamin D debacle being on her shoulders. She thinks it's her fault that Coach Sylvester is running Glee alongside Mr Schue. Which, if anyone's fault, it's Finn's. He was the one that started taking them.

Everything's so crazy right now, but as long as Rachel stays the constant in my life, I'm okay.

* * *

**Song: Always On My Mind- Phantom Planet**


	16. Keep Holding On

_"You're not alone_

_together we stand_

_I'll be by your side_

_you know I'll take your hand."_

__**Centered on Throwdown.**

As I closed my locker, I was bombarded by creepiest person on this Earth, known to others as Jacob Ben Israel, once again. I tried my best to look intimidating and held in my shouts for Quinn to help.

"The independent polling company in my Dockers has determined you're the hottest girl in this school," I didn't understand half of that, but I knew that I definitely wasn't the hottest girl in school; that title belonged to Quinn.

"Ew."

"Have you been reading my blog?" Yes, just to make sure there were no rumors going around about Quinn and me.

"Of course not, you're a gossipmonger and your blog is nothing but trash and lies, many of them about me." Thankfully my sexuality wasn't something that had been discussed on there yet; probably because he still had some insane hope that he had a chance with me.

"Well you'll be happy to know the one I'm working on right now has nothing to do with you or your rumored lust for Jew-fros." Then why was he telling me about it? "It's about Quinn Fabray." Shit. Did he know something? Did he find out she comes to my house every day? Did he somehow see the time we made out in the choir room on top of the piano? Quinn was right, I knew I shouldn't have suggested that. It was too public for comfort but I insisted. "Word on the street is she's in trouble." He mimed rubbing his stomach and my fears changed courses completely. He had found out about her pregnancy.

"Where did you hear that?" I questioned fiercely. It was probably Kurt. He always was one for gossip.

"Are you denying it?" he eagerly asked.

"Yes," I confirmed, walking away to go find Quinn.

"Because the same birdie told me you're heartbroken Finn Hudson didn't choose you to carry his litter." Okay that was weird. But I couldn't let it just sit. He couldn't just tell the world Quinn's secret. It would destroy her.

I spun around and marched back up to him. "What is it gonna take for you to not run the story?" I had to protect Quinn no matter what.

* * *

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. He seriously suggested we name her 'Drizzle'," I confirmed, happy that my misfortune could at least bring about that Rachel Berry smile I love so much.

She giggled and fell back into the pillows on her bed. "That sounds like Finn."

"You know what else he told me?" I crawled up her bed so I could lay beside her.

"What?" she questioned, turning to her side so she could look at me.

"He told me about how you gave a pair of your panties to that freak Jacob because he was threatening to run a story about me being pregnant," I replied.

"Well they weren't _actually_ mine."

"Then whose were they?"

"Yours."

"WHAT?"

"Just kidding! I bought them at the store. But still." She hid her face in the pillows. "It's so embarrassing! He thinks they're mine and there's no telling what he's doing with them."

"Hey," I murmured, and she peeked out at me. "I'm so thankful to have someone like you in my life. No one else would've done that for me."

"That still doesn't make it any less embarrassing," she stated, once again taking up refuge in the pillows.

"Would it help if I made sure he was slushied every day from now on?" I asked, trying to lure her back out.

She sighed. "Not really."

"Oh, and I told Finn to stay away from you," I said nonchalantly, hoping to get a rise from her.

Not only did she jump up, but she also yelled, "Quinn!" before throwing a pillow at me.

I simply caught the pillow and hugged it to me. It smelled like her.

"You can't do that! It's against the rules of the bet!" she cried.

"Since when are there rules?" I questioned, smirking.

"Since I decided we need them," she replied.

I laughed. "No, I don't think so, Rach."

"Why not?" she pouted. She knew she could get her way when she pouted, but I wasn't giving in this time.

"Because all's fair in love and war," I grinned. "Which means no rules." She began to protest, but I cut her off with a kiss.

"Rachel!" called one of her dads. We both jumped apart, even though he was clearly downstairs. "Will Quinn be staying for dinner this time?"

"How about it?" she asked hopefully. "Finally staying?"

"You know I can't," I reminded her. Dinners were kind of mandatory at the Fabray household.

"No daddy!" Rachel called back and then turned to me. "You're still staying with me Friday, though, right?"

"Yeah of course," I replied. My parents thought I was staying at Santana's.

It's not that they didn't like Rachel; they just didn't approve of her dads. That's why Rachel rarely came to my house. Thank goodness each time she came over, my mom was the only one home. If my father caught her there… I would hate to think what would happen. Mom was gracious enough to never mention Rachel's visits to him.

"But I probably should get going," I said standing up.

She frowned at this, and then sunk back into her pillows. "Fine. Leave me here to die."

I rolled my eyes. She always had to be dramatic when it was time for me to go. "I'll see you tomorrow, Rach."

"Not if I'm dead," she singsonged.

"I'll take my chances," I replied, turning to walk out her door. Before I could exit her room, though, I was spun around and trapped in a kiss before I even knew what was happening.

I swear Rachel Berry was a ninja in a past life.

* * *

Don't stare at Quinn don't stare at Quinn don't stare at Quinn. This was all I thought about the entire time we sang No Air in Glee. There were only five of us left after Coach Sylvester took all the minorities, so it was a lot easier for one of them to catch me singing to her. I had to concentrate on singing to Finn and Finn alone. But then Finn walked around behind Quinn and I couldn't help but look at her. She, thankfully, glanced away quickly so that I couldn't get caught up in her eyes. If I had, I might have stopped singing entirely and that wouldn't have been good.

Then I was put into the position where I was singing beside her and it was even worse. I could feel her glance my way, wondering what I was thinking to get that close to her, but I had no choice. Thankfully, Finn and I were due to walk up in a few seconds so I didn't have long beside her. But then she was in between the two of us. The torture was never-ending.

At last, the number was over. I had survived without throwing too many longing glances at Quinn. Then she was pushing her way between us, as if the song had somehow brought Finn and I closer together and she was there to stop it. I didn't even think about Finn the entire time, and I was supposed to be singing to him! She started talking about something with Mr Schue about swaying in the background, but I couldn't really hear anything as I was still trying my best not to look at her.

* * *

She was not allowed to seduce Finn by song in front of me. I wouldn't have it. The person I was pretending to be wouldn't stand for it either. Finn was my boyfriend, and she wasn't just going to do that.

I knew what I had to do, so I cornered her in the hall the next day.

"Listen here Treasure Trail," I said after slamming her locker. I could just hear her now, commenting on my new stupid nickname for her. Better stupid than accurate. I didn't want to actually hurt her feelings. "We're about to have a smack-down."

She held up her hands in defense. "I don't want to have a confrontation." We hadn't discussed this beforehand, so I guess she wasn't prepared. That, or her character wasn't feeling very confrontational. Either way, I couldn't just back down now. Surely she knew that?

She tried to walk away, but I grabbed her wrist and twirled her back around to face me. "Don't play stupid with me, Stubbles." Oh hey, I was full of nicknames. "I'm having Finn's baby, and you need to back off. I'm asking you as nicely as I possibly can." In public. Those were the key words I left out. If we were alone, I would just kiss her senseless until she completely forgot about Finn Hudson. "Leave him alone."

"You're right," she nodded. Wait what? "I've helped you, not because it's the right thing to do, but because I had romantic ulterior motives." Yeah okay. Romantic ulterior motives with me, maybe. "But just so we're clear, you're the one who's cheating." Woah. She was actually throwing truths at me. Guess I should've went over this with her beforehand because I had no idea where to go with this, but I couldn't just walk away and neither could she; she wasn't allowed to have the final word.

"Excuse me?" I managed to get out before she was completely gone. I hurried to catch up with her.

"I have on good authority that you're Sue Sylvester's mole," Yeah, my authority. "And you can deny it all you want, but I know it's true."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Honestly, I didn't. She kept switching between truth and acting, and I had no idea how to respond to her.

"Sue's not on your side, Quinn. She's not on anyone's but her own. Can you imagine what she's gonna do when she finds out about your situation? She'll probably try to rip off your uniform with her bare hands." Wait was Rachel saying she wanted to rip off my uniform with her bare hands? I had stopped listening out of confusion. Ugh we were never doing an unscripted fight again. "Every time you whisper in her ear, you empower her to do more damage to the glee club. And right now, Glee Club is all you have. And if I were you, I'd recognize who my true friends are. And I'd practice a little bit more, because you obviously have a lot you need to express."

"Oh you have no idea," I replied, marching off because I had no clue on what else to say.

Once I reached the end of the hallway, I sent off a quick text to Rachel because I had a sudden idea.

_**Be in the bleachers for Cheerios practice this afternoon and you'll see how much I need to express.**_

_I refuse to make out under the bleachers, Quinn. By the way, you might want to work on your acting. I noticed I tripped you up a couple times._

I decided to ignore the jab at my acting.

_**Trust me on this. You won't wanna miss it ;)**_

* * *

I don't think I'll ever get over how amazing Quinn looks in a cheerleading outfit. At first I thought that was why she asked me to come; to remind me. But then she started singing You Keep Me Hangin' On. Quinn singing and performing an elaborate cheer number… It was hot.

Though what did she mean by singing that song?

When it was over and the field had cleared, she ran to sit with me. I hadn't been able to move out of shock.

"So," she huffed when she got near me. "What'd you think?"

"You want me out of your life?" I questioned.

"What?" she asked, confused. "No. Of course not. Why would you think that?"

"The song," I stated.

"Oh. That. Coach wants us to have a new edge for competition and I had to pick the song. I thought it went along with our acting well is all," she replied, waving it off. "In my mind it was a lot better. But it's not like I could just sing a love song to you."

"And why not?" I pouted.

"Rachel you know why."

"Yeah, but you don't have to remind me."

"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her hands.

"But hey, you were really hot in that number," I grinned at her when she looked back up at me.

"Hot enough that you'll make out under the bleachers with me?" she asked hopefully.

"Don't you have practice?" I reminded her.

She groaned and stood up. "One of these days, Berry."

"In your dreams, Fabray!" I called after her as she ran down the bleachers.

* * *

"Now everybody knows, including me." The second Coach Sylvester said those words, I froze.

Everything I had worked for was vanishing. I wanted nothing more than to be back in the bleachers joking with Rachel, or the auditorium, or well, anywhere but there.

My head was pounding and I couldn't hear anything but a roaring in my ears. That's when I remembered that I had to breathe. Just breathe, Q. Concentrate on breathing. Make it through this and you can curl up with Rachel and break down later. Breathe.

Everything after that was just a blur for me. My mind was on one track: just make it through the day.

So when I got in my car after school with every intent of skipping Cheerios practice in favor of going to Rachel's house, I was surprised to find her there in the passenger's seat.

"Is my car really that easy to break into?" I asked, trying my best not to crumple and break down.

"You need to come to the auditorium," she stated, opening the door and coming around to help me out.

"I know you're trying to help, but I would really just like to go watch Mary Poppins on your couch," I pleaded.

"We will after this," she said, giving me a weak smile. She offered her hand and I took it and let her lead me back toward the school. "Glee's prepared a number to sing."

"I really don't feel like singing, Rach," I said, though I continued to follow her.

"You don't have to sing, just sway in the background like you normally do," she replied with a smirk.

"Will you stay by me?" I questioned. I didn't really think I could get up on the stage without her beside me. "And sing to me?"

"I…" she hesitated. She was probably working through the scenarios in her head, seeing if it would cause any suspicions. At the moment, I didn't care if they knew. I was ready to give up the act then and there. Everything was falling to pieces anyway. "Of course I will, Quinn. Anything you want."

* * *

Getting through the song was tough. Quinn was emotionally unstable and wanted me by her at all times, but I couldn't do that. She wasn't thinking clearly at the moment, but I knew if we blew our whole enemy act we had going, she would be pissed come a later day. So I did the best I could to both satisfy her and still make it look like I was interested in Finn not her.

Afterwards, I drove us in her car to my house. She was in no condition to drive.

Once home, I guided her up the drive and into the house, straight to our living room couch.

"Mary Poppins?" I asked, knowing that was probably still what she wanted to watch. She nodded and I set to preparing the movie.

I cuddled up with her once I had gotten it started. She needed someone to hold her, and I would always be there. Quinn took one of my hands in hers and held on for dear life.

"Quinn, sweetie, it'll be okay," I whispered. "Though it won't if you cut off the circulation to my hand."

At this she gave a watery chuckle and loosened her grip a bit. With my free hand, I ran my fingers through her hair. She loved it when I did that, so I didn't stop.

Eventually, she put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. As gently as I could, I transferred her off of me and onto the couch. Quinn would want cookies, and since neither of my fathers were home, it was my duty to make them.

Thank goodness this all took place on Friday so she would be able to stay with me. There was no way I was letting her go home in her condition (also my dads weren't home until Saturday night and I was afraid). It wasn't going to be a fun night like I had originally planned, but there was nothing I could do about that.

Just as I was putting the cookies in the oven, I heard a cry, followed by Quinn calling out my name. I hurried to find she had woken up alone, which she hated.

I sat back down on the couch and wrapped her in my arms. "It's alright. I'm here," I assured her.

"Why did you go?" she whimpered into my collarbone.

"So I could make some of your favorite cookies filled with love," I replied, smiling at her when she looked up at the mention of cookies.

"The burnt ones?" she whispered.

"One time, Quinn Fabray! One time!" I cried, trying to get a laugh out of her. I got a smile.

"That was one time too many, dear," she stated with a smirk.

"There's going to be a second time if you don't let me get up and go check on them." She immediately scrabbled away from me. I laughed at how childlike she was, then took her hand and pulled her up with me. "Come on."

After checking on the cookies which were, thankfully, not burnt, I turned around to find Quinn. She was situated at the bar, staring at me with a dopey grin. "What?"

"You sang a song to me," she stated.

"Quinn, I've sang quite a few songs to you. So many, in fact, that I'm sure you're sick of them by now," I replied, not understanding what exactly the big deal was.

"I could never be sick of your singing," she said, shaking her head. "But you sang to me in Glee today."

"Yes, I did," I confirmed. "Are you okay with everything that went down?"

"No. Finn kept getting in the way," she pouted. She was absolutely adorable when she pouted.

"It was probably a good thing he did. I wanted so much to kiss the tears off your face, and I'm sure the others wouldn't have overlooked that," I explained, trying my best to keep the blush in my cheeks from showing up.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Rach," she said, getting up and coming over to kiss me.

"You're just saying that because I made you cookies," I murmured when we broke apart.

She smiled at me. "And don't you forget it."

"Hey!" I cried, playfully shoving her away. She chuckled, and I spun around in an attempt to be mad at her but actually I meant to check the cookies.

"Are they ready yet?" she questioned.

"Please try to wait for them to cool a bit," I answered, pulling the tray out. "I'm not kissing your fingers should you burn them again."

"Yes you will," she singsonged. Of course I would. I would do anything to have her not revert back to the hurt girl she was just a couple hours ago. I had no idea if she just slept the sadness off or hid it away, but as long as she was happy, then everything was right in the world.

Because if she was happy, then so was I.

But it wasn't always going to be that simple.

* * *

**Song: Keep Holding On- Avril Lavigne**

**A/N: Much longer chapter this week! Hope you enjoyed and it wasn't too jumpy. I think I'm going to start adding a couple lines from the song that the chapter titles are based off of at the beginning of every chapter. I'll go back and put them in the other chapters over the course of this week when I have time.**

**Also, I have lots of ideas and the plot's pretty much mapped out, but I was wondering if any of you have any ideas for this story? What are your predictions for what's going to happen? I want to know what you guys think!**


	17. Don't Let Me Fall

_"You're just the one that I've been waiting for_

_I'll give you all that I have to give and more_

_but don't let me fall."_

**Centered around Mash-Up.**

Everything was different come Monday. Apparently I wasn't seen as a scary ice queen anymore, which wasn't good. It was as if the popularity that I had worked so hard and given up so much to obtain was going away.

Though that was a big issue, it wasn't what was worrying me. My mind was mostly consumed with the fact that Puck was not only being nice to Rachel, but wanted to hang out with her. MY Rachel, who I had cleaned so many slushies off of from that boy. Something was up, and Rachel wasn't being much help.

I pulled her into the bathroom after second period to discuss it. "Explain yourself."

She looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Oh please, Rachel, I heard you this morning. Since when do you hang out with Puck?" I questioned.

"I don't hang out with Noah. We are strictly working on our mash-ups," she answered, completely unfazed. "Now we really need to get to-"

"Sweetie, obviously you don't know Puck," I replied. "He doesn't just come to your house to sing songs."

"Quinn, I know what I'm doing," she stated, moving back toward the door. "I'm not-" She stopped there, but it was enough.

"You're not what, Rachel? Not me?" I asked, trying to stay calm. I really didn't want to get into another fight with her that would leave us silent for days again.

"That's not what I was going to-"

"Yes it was. You forget how well I know you," I reminded her.

"I'm sorry," she said with sincerity. "I didn't mean it that way." She looked up at me with those puppy eyes, and I knew I was a goner.

I sighed, pulling her into a hug. "I know, Rach. Let's get to Chemistry."

"I don't even understand why we have to take Chemistry. There's enough between the two of us to blow up the science lab," she muttered into my shoulder.

I laughed and opened the door. "You are such a dork."

* * *

To be quite honest, I was just a bit pissed off at Quinn. I was allowed to associate with whoever I wanted, even if that person used to slushie me daily and got Quinn pregnant. So when he asked if I wanted to make out, I didn't hesitate. After all, I wasn't Quinn, and I wasn't drunk. I could handle it.

But after a couple seconds, I realized how wrong it was. How, had I not agreed to have him over, it could have been Quinn I was making out with on my bed.

"I can't do this," I stated, sitting up.

"Why?" he questioned. "We're a couple of good-lookin' Jews. It's natural."

"I-I can't give myself to someone who isn't…" Quinn. I couldn't say that, though, so I had to think about what my character would say. "Brave enough to sing a solo." Yes, that was good, but I needed to add to it. "If you don't have the guts to do that, then how are you gonna be bold enough to deal with the ups and downs of loving an admittedly high-maintenance girl like me?"

"Are you questioning my badassness? Have you seen my guns?" He started to roll up his shirt sleeve.

I stopped him. "Noah, I'm sorry but- your arms are lovely but, I just don't see us working out." Mainly because I was completely in love with Quinn, but he didn't have to know that.

* * *

Rachel was avoiding me.

I had my suspicions when she didn't answer any of my calls or texts the night before, but I knew for sure when she didn't meet me in the auditorium for our once a week lunch together. So I had to go looking for her.

I tried all her usual haunts: backstage, the choir room, the many bathrooms, I even checked the lunchroom in case she was being a normal person, but she wasn't there. I was just about ready to give up and go to study hall when I thought about one more place she had gone when she was sad.

Sure enough, when I ran out to the football field, there she was in the bleachers. I did my best to sneak up on her, as I didn't want her to run, but it wasn't really necessary since she was so lost in her thought.

When I sat down next to her, she still hadn't noticed me. So I spoke. "Remember the first football game we went to?" She jumped at the sound of my voice. I figured the best course of action would be to talk to her normally and then confront her about why she was ignoring me.

"Yeah. You couldn't keep your eyes off of me," she smirked, and I rolled my eyes.

"I can't help that you're adorable when you get all focused on football," I replied.

"So you're saying I'm not adorable all the time?" she pouted.

"That's correct," I teased, and she playfully hit me. "So are you going to tell me why you've been avoiding me?"

She glanced at the field. "I sort of… um… got carried away with Noah last night."

"Oh my God you didn't have sex, did you?" I questioned, immediately jumping to the worst conclusion.

"No no!" she cried. "But we did make out." Okay? There was a little pit in my stomach that clenched at the thought of her kissing someone else, but I quickly pushed it out of mind as she had to put up with my kissing Finn every day.

"Rachel, me and you do that all the time. That's not really getting carried away," I stated, exhaling on the inside.

"But…" She looked adorably confused. "You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"You made such a big deal over Noah yesterday that I thought you would be mad that I kissed him," she explained. Oh.

"Rach," I sighed. "I would've been mad had he taken advantage of you. I don't really have the right to get mad at you for just kissing someone."

"So you wouldn't mind if I went straight up to Finn and kissed him during Glee?" she questioned.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend. If you did that I would legally have the right to start a bitch fight with you then and there. But as long as I'm not around to witness it, I don't really care."

"Well then could you maybe not make out with him so much in front of me?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure," I agreed. "Just no more avoiding me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now we probably should get to study hall since I know neither of us are going to be doing homework this afternoon."

"We'll be too busy watching Funny Girl."

"Is that code for making out?"

"You wish."

* * *

Shit.

When I said he had to sing a solo in Glee, I didn't think he would actually do it. I used that excuse because I thought him "too cool" to get up and sing. That backfired spectacularly.

I suppose the only good thing that came out of it was realizing that Noah could actually sing. He would be a valuable asset to us at Sectionals, but not as a lead vocalist. Finn still held that role because I still had to win him over. But how was I supposed to win him over when I had Noah Puckerman singing me songs?

* * *

It was so much worse the second time. I think it was partially due to the fact that it was more than one, but there was also the fact that people felt they could do that. It infuriated me that they thought they could just toss slushies at me like I was still a nobody freshman. I gave up my life to be popular, and it wasn't acceptable how that was spiraling down.

I was in the bathroom cleaning slushie off by myself for less than two minutes. It was kind of amazing how I didn't have to text her for her to know about the incident and come running.

"Hey," she quietly said upon entering the bathroom.

"Hey yourself," I replied, not looking away from the mirror.

"I can't say that purple is your color, Quinn," she giggled, taking up a towel to help me. I couldn't help but smile.

"How did you find out?" I asked.

"Well when the most popular girl in school gets a slushie facial, word travels at an extraordinary rate," she answered.

"To think of everything I did to avoid this, and it still doesn't help," I muttered.

"Sure it helps. You just have to go out there and show them you're still head bitch around here and that you don't take kindly to being slushied," she stated. "Though what you're going to wear, I have no idea. I don't think they would take you too seriously if they saw you in argyle and an animal sweater, which is all I have in my emergency slushie kit."

"It's okay, I have another uniform in the locker room," I replied. "Coach is going to be super pissed about this one, though."

"Maybe she'll take out her anger on the dumb jocks who did this then."

"I can only hope."

* * *

For reasons unknown, Noah Puckerman wanted to date me, and after singing a solo in Glee, I was kind of morally obligated to date him. Which is how I found myself walking down the hall on Noah's arm, trying to bore him to death by talking about different aspects of theater. In my mind, I figured that if he found I was not only not going to put out to him, but I also would be boring him with a play by play recount of the Tony Awards every second of the day, he would have to break up with me.

With him being so popular, I didn't expect I would have to be cleaning a slushie off of him. But then again, I never thought I would ever have to clean another slushie off Quinn.

"You're pretty good at this," Noah commented as I cleaned slushie out of his hair.

I sighed. "I've had a lot of practice." Well, not really a lot, seeing as I've only had to clean off two, but there's not really much to it. Now Quinn on the other hand, she's had a lot of practice getting slushie off of me. "You're actually a lot luckier than me and Quinn. Your head is shaved." Shit did I just mention Quinn? Shit shit shit.

Luckily, he didn't notice the part about Quinn. "I'm really sorry I ever did this to you." And he sounded like it. Maybe the good thing that came from being his girlfriend would be no more slushies.

"It's okay."

"No it isn't. No one deserves this feeling." That was true. "You know what the worst part is? It's not the burning in your eyes or the way the slushie drips all the way into your underpants; it's the humiliation. I feel like I could burst into tears at any moment." Oh I highly doubt that. "Rachel, I'm sorry, but today when the clock chimes 3:30-"

"You're choosing football over Glee which means we probably can't be together anymore." Yes! I was free! Free to chase after Finn once again!

I was filled with jubilation for the rest of the day.

Then Glee Club came around and he showed up ready to take on a slushie every day if need be just to be with me.

Shit.

* * *

"I can't believe you're seriously dating Puck," I said, stealing a cookie while her back was turned.

"Quinn!" She saw. "Those cookies are for tonight!"

"Some are for me. Why can't I just eat my share now?" I questioned.

"Because you'll end up burning your fingers," she replied before pulling me away from the tray of cookies. "Let's go to the piano room."

"Yes Miss Berry," I groaned. When we sat down on the piano bench, I decided to try again. "So. You. Puck."

"Shut up!" she cried, playfully shoving me away.

"Are you doing this to make me jealous or?" I teased.

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Quinn Fabray, no matter how much you think it does," she stated before starting to practice her scales.

"You just deflected the question," I reminded her.

"I don't think I could do anything to make you jealous."

"Not true, and deflected again."

She stopped playing. "I've made the head Cheerio Quinn Fabray, most popular girl in school, jealous at one point or another? Do tell."

"I was pretty jealous during Push It," I explained, remembering how watching that performance was like living a thousand deaths.

She laughed. "So I should perform more provocative numbers with Finn from now on. Duly noted."

"Please don't," I begged. "Also question, still didn't answer it."

"Am I trying to make you jealous with Noah?" I nodded, reaffirming that's what question I was talking about. "Not really. I'm mostly dating him because I stopped our make out session by saying I couldn't be with a guy who was too scared to sing a solo in Glee. But if it makes you jealous then that's a plus for me."

"Why is that a plus for you?" I smirked. "Not saying that it does make me jealous, because it doesn't."

"Because possessive Quinn is really cute," she replied with a grin.

I rolled my eyes because she was absolutely crazy. "Okay, Rach."

She kissed me on the cheek and then whispered in my ear, "You're totally jealous."

"Maybe you're right. Would the the cuteness of me at the moment give me the right to furiously make out with you against the piano?" If she was going to read me like a book, I wanted to at least get something out of it.

"Maaaaaaybe."

* * *

I had to break up with Puck. If he liked me enough to give up football for Glee, then I couldn't just lead him on. Even though it did bring out a side of Quinn that I found super attractive, I couldn't do that to him.

When I broke up with him, he could tell that I liked someone else. He thought it was Finn, so I just went along with it. I wasn't going to tell him it was Quinn, the girl who picked on me every day and who he also liked. We weren't really friends, so why would I tell him the truth?

I just hoped he wouldn't go back to sending slushies my way every week.

* * *

When Coach approached me in the hallway, I knew it was bad news.

"Q, take off those sunglasses. I wanna look in your eyes when I give you this piece of business."

I grudgingly took them off. This couldn't be good.

"You're off the Cheerios. I can't have a pregnant girl on my squad. You're a disgrace."

It was almost like a repeat of last Friday. Coach Sylvester, bringer of bad news. It took all I had in me not to completely break down then and there. Instead, I opted to run to the auditorium and hide in there for a couple class periods.

Each time I thought my life was over and nothing could get worse, it did. But all those other times there was a chance I could conquer them and stay popular. That wasn't the case anymore. Without the status being Head Cheerio gave me, all I had was being the girlfriend of the quarterback of a loser football team.

I was sure to get slushied every day. What would Rachel say about this? After I had given up us in favor of trying to be popular, this was what I had to show for it? I was stuck in a web of lies and pregnant at sixteen. I was almost as much of a loser as I was last year.

Rachel never came to find me like she usually did, probably because I sent her a text saying I went home early. I couldn't face her like this. So I cried for a while by myself in the auditorium before actually going home.

Why had I given up the simplicity of freshman year for this?

* * *

**Song: Don't Let Me Fall- Lenka**


	18. I Will Go Anywhere With You

_"I don't need a bed_

_no, I'm not tired yet_

_so go full speed ahead_

_we'll end up where we get_

_and as we bid adieu_

_to the towns we're passing through_

_I don't care where we're heading to_

_I will go anywhere with you."_

**Centered around Wheels.**

For Quinn, getting kicked off the Cheerios was worse than finding out she was pregnant.

Normally when she had a bad day, she would come to my house and we would cuddle, or she would cry on my shoulder in the auditorium. So when I found out she was off the Cheerios from Finn later that day, I knew she was bound to be upset. Though she was so upset that she went home early instead of coming to me was kind of scary.

The second school let out, I called her. It rang quite a few times and I was already preparing what to say for the voicemail when she picked up.

"_Hello?"_

"Quinn! Thank goodness you picked up. Are you okay?"

"…_I'm guessing you heard."_

"It's kind of all over the school."

"_Great."_

"You didn't answer my question. Are you okay?"

"_No."_ Well at least she wasn't lying to me.

"Do you want to come over? We could watch Mary Poppins?" Please, Quinn. Please. Just come over and it'll all be okay.

"_We just watched that last week."_

"Well we can watch something else. It doesn't even have to be a musical it could be-"

"_Thanks, Rach, but I think I'm just gonna take a nap and do some homework, maybe go on a run."_

I sighed. "I love you, no matter what. You know that, right?"

"_I know. And I love you too, even though I'm an idiot who can't do anything right."_

"Quinn, you might have a tendency to choose things based on your completely rational need of acceptance, but that doesn't make you an idiot for it. Without it, you might never have spoken to me way back at orientation. So not all your choices have been bad."

She let out a sigh. _"You're right, as always."_

"And don't you forget it."

* * *

In my year and a half at McKinley, Rachel and I have been hit by quite a few slushies. Though not a single of those times have we both been hit on the same day. That still hasn't happened, but something worse did. Well, worse for Rachel, not so much for me.

After it was announced that we were having a bake sale to pay for the bus to Sectionals, I was assigned to make cupcakes. I was doing perfectly fine making them in the home ec room during my lunch break, but then Puck came in and we ended up having one of those ingredient fights that I usually have when making things with Rachel (which was exactly what I was trying to avoid by not making the cupcakes with Rachel).

When I went to the bathroom to try to clean it all off, I was surprised to find Rachel in there as well, cleaning off some odd concoction that we probably had for lunch.

"I thought with all the training in dance that you'd be a little less clumsy, Berry," I said with a sneer.

"There's no one else in here, Quinn," she replied offhandedly, and I dropped the act.

"What happened?" I questioned, immediately forgetting about my own mess and going to help with hers.

"I could ask the same of you," she said, gesturing to my appearance.

"I asked first."

"I was getting my lunch while in the wheelchair and some neanderthal knocked it into my face," she explained. "It's no big deal. Now tell me why you look so adorable even though you're covered in dirt."

"It's cocoa, actually. I was baking," I replied, finishing cleaning her face.

She arched an eyebrow. "So who did you fight with if not me? That is, unless you're just that bad of a baker." I rolled my eyes at this.

"Lean your head over the sink so I can wash your hair," I directed before continuing our conversation. "I was actually baking like a normal person before Puck came along."

"Since when are you on such good terms with him?"

"I'm not, actually. It was just a spur of the moment thing, I guess." I didn't really want to tell Rachel he was there to give me money for my pregnancy. If she knew that I needed money, she would get it and I couldn't let her do that for me.

"Are you done with my hair yet?" she questioned, trying to sit up.

I laughed, gently pushing her back down. "I'm not that good. Besides, you have a lot of hair. Do you have shampoo with you, because while I do have some, people might question it if your hair smells like mine."

"Who do you think is going to be smelling my hair?" she asked. "But yeah, there's some in my emergency slushie bag on the floor."

I dropped down and dug through her bag to find it. "Oh I don't know, Finn maybe?"

"And even if he did, he probably wouldn't make the connection because this is Finn we're talking about."

"True," I agreed. "So you almost lost a solo today to Kurt. You aren't going to threaten to leave Glee again?"

"Oh please. As if I even came close to losing that solo. You've heard the Wicked original cast recording, you know that Kurt wouldn't be better suited than me for that song."

"Um, I actually haven't heard it."

"Yes you have! We listened to the entire soundtrack in my room one day…" Then it hit her. "Quinn Fabray! You fell asleep!"

"Rach, I can't listen to the songs from a musical without knowing the plot. I had no idea what was going on and I was so tired from Cheerios practice that day!" I whined, knowing that she was going to hold it over my head for a while.

"You should've told me that! I'm so well versed in Wicked that I could probably tell you the blocking for most of it!"

"Fine," I sighed. "Since we have some time right now, why don't you tell me what Wicked is about."

"Yes! You are going to love it so much Quinn."

"Though since you know it so well, I'm expecting elaborate song and dance to go along with it."

She grinned. "You really shouldn't have said that."

* * *

After singing to Quinn in the bathroom, she agreed that Defying Gravity would be best suited for me. Which was why I was quite angry the next day when Mr Schue announced he was going to give Kurt a shot. Not only was he taking away the song he had given me, but he was dictating that it would only be given back if I beat Kurt in a popularity contest, which wasn't happening. The entire Glee Club hated me, so they wouldn't vote for me even if my performance was better. Quinn probably wasn't even going to be able to vote for me because when I only got one vote it would look suspicious.

While waiting in the auditorium for one of my dads to come pick me up, I got a text from the exact person I had been thinking about.

_**You okay?**_

I sighed and wrote back.

_Just spectacular._

_**Come out to my car. I'll give you a ride home and we'll talk. I know your dads won't be here for another half hour at least.**_

I fired off a quick text to them both saying Quinn was going to give me a ride and it wouldn't be necessary for either of them to take off work to drive me home. Then I ran out to Quinn's car where she was waiting.

"Hurry and get in before someone sees," she said when I opened the door.

I rolled my eyes and didn't rush. "Since you probably don't remember, I drove your car to my house a few weeks ago and nobody said anything about it."

"What?" she cried, looking panicked. "Where was I?"

"Beside me?" I reminded her. "Back on the day the school found out you were pregnant?"

"But you can't drive! You're only fourteen!"

"You're seriously worrying about this now?" I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Oh yeah, I was supposed to be reminding you that you're gonna kick Kurt's ass in the sing-off. Which you are, in case you didn't know," she smiled at me.

"But the glee club-"

"Is going to respect Kurt's decision and vote for the person who sings the song better, which will be you."

"You don't know that," I argued. Most of the members of Glee despised me.

She sighed. "Rach, either way there's nothing you can do about it except go in there and sing that song. If you sing it near as good as you did yesterday, then I have no doubt you'll win. And we're here." Sure enough, we were parked in my driveway.

"Thanks," I said, giving her a smile.

"For what? Driving you home when you were too lazy to walk?"

"For believing in me."

"Oh. Uh, no problem."

"Are you gonna stay over today?" I questioned, seeing as neither of us had made a move to get out.

"Do you want me to?"

Why was she still asking me this question? "Always."

"Under one condition," she said, turning the car off. "I get to pick the movie. There will be no Funny Girl today."

I groaned dramatically, but it really didn't matter to me. As long as I was with her I didn't care what we did.

* * *

Stress beyond stress. Bills kept coming in and I had no way to pay them. So when I did what I did, I wasn't thinking straight.

I stormed into the choir room after noticing Finn flirting with my Rachel. That was the last straw. I completely snapped.

"We need to talk," I stated angrily. Rachel looked really uncomfortable, as if she knew I had only come in because of the flirting.

"I'll get out of your way," Rachel said, starting to get up, eager to get out of my line of fire. But I wasn't letting her escape. I wasn't thinking at the time of the consequences.

"No, you stay. I need a witness," I said to her, then shoved the paper I was holding into Finn's face. "Do you know what this is?"

"Oh, it's just a past due notice. My mom gets 'em all the time," he replied, oblivious.

"Right. But if this sonogram bill doesn't get paid, it's not your phone that's going to get cut off. YOU will get cut off. You need to help me with this, Finn," I said, throwing the bill in his lap. "Or else we're going to go our separate ways."

It was when I left the choir room that I realized who I just yelled all this in front of. Two minutes later, I got a text.

_**Bathroom. Now.**_

Shit I was dead.

* * *

After assuring Finn I would help him get a job that afternoon, I made my escape to the bathroom. Quinn was already there, waiting on me.

"Would you like to explain yourself?" I asked, giving her a chance to say something before I went into a long-winded rant.

"I would like to remind you before you start shouting at me that it is my life and I'm allowed to do what I want," she stated, and I tried my best not start yelling.

"Yes, it's your life, but you're not allowed to ruin someone else's. What you're doing to Finn isn't fair, Quinn," I started.

"I know it isn't fair, we've had this discussion before," she replied, and I could see the anger rising in her. I didn't want a fight, but there was nothing that could be done to stop it.

"You can't make him think she's his and force him to pay!" I cried. "If you need money, my dads would be-"

"Rachel, she's not your kid. I can't accept money from you."

"She's not his either!" Quinn was silent for a moment.

"You're right, but I have to get money from somewhere, and it's not going to be my parents, or you, or Puck."

Why couldn't she just accept my help? My dads loved her and would be more than willing to help. It would take some of the stress off Finn as well, who, though an idiot, didn't deserve this. "Why are you so stubborn? Can't you just take my money?"

"No, I can't. That's not how I was raised," she replied wearily, avoiding eye contact. "Can we please just drop this? I don't want to fight with you."

"One of these days we're going to have to," I muttered. We couldn't keep storing all these issues away. One day it was all going to come out, and it wasn't going to be good.

"I know. Just not today. Let's just go to Glee and you belt out some Defying Gravity."

I sighed. "Okay."

* * *

Rachel was perfect. Absolutely perfect. I had to make myself stop smiling in case any of the others happened to glance at me.

Every time she sang, it was as if she opened up a different side of her, the side that she usually only showed me. When she sang, she wasn't the annoying short girl who talked way too much for her own good; no, she was a star, and they could all see it. Sure, they didn't want to believe it, and so they resented her, but I saw her for who she was.

Maybe one day they would too.

* * *

**Song: I Will Go Anywhere With You- Julia Nunes**

**A/N: So happy that you guys are enjoying OGAC so far. All the reviews you leave really do mean the world to me and help me keep writing when I want nothing more than to pass out from exhaustion after Calculus homework. It makes me laugh both when you correctly theorize and when you get it completely wrong. If you have any questions, like why I chose Quinn's favorite musical to be Mary Poppins or whether I plan on writing more faberry fanfics (writing the plot for a one-shot right now, actually), feel free to send me an ask on my tumblr, faberryrulestheworld. Talking about OGAC is one of my favorite things but be warned that my answers will most likely be the length of something you would expect from Rachel Berry because I can gush about characters for forever.**


	19. Tomorrow

_"The sun'll come out tomorrow_

_bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow_

_there'll be sun."_

**Centered around Ballad.**

Quinn was depressed. She would never admit it to me, but I could tell from the way she cut herself off from everyone, including me, to read. Sometimes she just got in these moods where she really missed cheerleading, or at least that's what I thought it was about at the time.

It also didn't help that the tension between us never really died down.

So I decided the only thing to do was to distract her from the fact that she no longer owned a Cheerio uniform, or whatever it was she was so clearly upset about. The problem was that I had no idea how to go about this. I tried intense make out sessions and movie marathons and even going on a walk to the clearing in the woods where we spent New Year's Eve, but none of it worked. Quinn was distant and quiet, which wasn't like her.

When I was given the chance to make a fool of myself, I took it, hoping that it would be enough to cheer her up. Which was how I ended up singing a ballad to Mr Schuester while making love eyes at him. Surely she would see the absurdness of the situation and laugh. The one time I risked to glance at her, she had this goofy grin on her face, so I thought everything was going according to plan.

I thoroughly miscalculated Quinn's response.

* * *

What the hell was Rachel playing at?

For the past few weeks I thought I had been quite good. I hadn't been overly affectionate with Finn in front of her. I hadn't thrown the money back in her face when I found it in my locker with a note from "Finn". Sure, I may not have been around her as much as I could with the preparations for the stupid Chastity Ball that my parents were forcing me to attend, but that wasn't enough to provoke this.

So what was the reasoning behind that disgusting display with Mr Schue?

I pulled her into the janitor's closet after Glee to find out.

"Quinn as much as I would love to stay and make out with you, I have-" But I stopped her there.

"What did I do this time, Rachel?" I questioned, fumbling around for the light switch.

"Wait what?"

"Obviously I did something to get that kind of treatment," I replied coldly. Normally I was only like this to her when I was acting.

"But… But I thought it would cheer you up. I thought it would make you laugh." Here I did laugh, but there wasn't any joy behind it.

"Really, Rach? You know how jealous I get," I reminded her.

"I don't know why, it's not like we're dating," she murmured, almost as if she didn't want me to hear it, but I did.

"I wish we were!" I cried in frustration. "You know I do!"

"No, I don't! You don't wish we were dating! If you did we still would be!" she yelled, and then I watched the anger instantly drain from her. "I'm sorry… I can't do this. I don't want to fight."

Before I knew what was happening, she was slipping away and out the door. "BERRY GET BACK HERE BEFORE I KICK YOUR ASS!" I yelled after her as she ran down the hall. It was a mixture of acting and truth, which were two things I never needed to mix.

* * *

It was the first time Quinn had been real in weeks, and even if it was her being extremely pissed off, it was still better than the silent and distant Quinn.

What angered me was the fact that she thought she could be jealous when she knew there was nothing to be jealous about. It was Mr Schue for goodness sake! If we were dating, or had plans to date, it would be acceptable, but Quinn was dating Finn and I had every right to flirt with other people, even if it just so happened to be my teacher.

I didn't understand why we couldn't date. She had had her moment of popularity, but now she was back on the ground with me. It hurt, making me feel like she didn't want me anymore, so I decided to continue on and flirt with Mr Schue since it seemed to hurt Quinn.

She even knew it wasn't real! She knew that I only had feelings for her! Why couldn't she just take it like the joke it was meant to be?

* * *

As if there wasn't enough stress on my plate with Rachel and the Chastity Ball and pregnancy and school, let's throw in the fact that Finn told me his mom knows about the baby.

When would my life stop going downhill?

I should've just stayed with Rachel. Then I wouldn't have to worry about anything but my parents finding out I'm gay. Well, I have to worry about that now, but also all this other shit.

But no. I did something stupid and had to live with the consequences. Though hell if I was going to let Rachel just waltz around and flirt with everyone. That had to stop, especially with Mr Schue.

Except Rachel wasn't getting anywhere near me. All I could get out of her were these weird text messages telling me about her and Mr Schue's ballad rehearsals. I think she was afraid that the moment we got close, I would start up the fight again. She should've known better. I didn't want to fight any more than she did.

Why was everything so difficult?

* * *

Okay so maybe pretending to have a crush on Mr Schue wasn't the best of ideas. Quinn was never around to see it, which meant it was doing no good. The only thing it was doing at all was creeping Mr Schue out enough to sing a ballad to me.

"So, Rachel, do you think you understood the message I was trying to get across with that ballad?" he asked at the end of the song. Yes, I understood he was severally creeped out, and that he wanted me to back off. But I felt that a little more time spent like this would make Quinn even more jealous, even if she only heard about it. If she wasn't going to find it funny, then I would settle for jealous. I was kind of aiming for it to get so bad that the possessiveness in her would kick in and she would make me her girlfriend again.

"Yes. It means I'm very young, and it's hard for you to stand close to me," I replied, acting oblivious.

He sighed. "Um, no, um… Emma, would you mind helping me out here? Was that the message that you got?"

Why was he asking her when she had an actual crush on him?

"You're a very good performer," she gushed and then turned to me. "He's very good." I didn't expect any more out of her. She was obviously head over heels in love with him.

"Well, I for one can't wait to go home and work on a medley of my own for tomorrow, because this lesson has given me… a lot to think about." I rushed out then after grabbing my things.

I decided to wait in the auditorium for one of my dads to come pick me up, that way there was less of a chance of Quinn seeing me and offering me a ride home.

Unfortunately Quinn's kind of smart.

The second I walked in the door, I was practically assaulted. Quinn's lips were on mine before I had time to think. When I did stop to think about who I was kissing, I started to pull away, but Quinn just gripped me tighter and growled, "You're mine."

That set me over the edge. I shoved her away hard. Guess I got the possessiveness that I wished for. "I most certainly am not!"

The fire that she had been running on just seconds before vanished. "W-what?"

"I may be in love with you, Quinn, but I am not yours. You let me go months ago in favor of being with that moron, Finn Hudson. While I may permit us to kiss and cuddle and the like, I am in no way yours. I'm not going to be exclusive if you won't." I was letting out everything. The moment had finally arrived.

"Rachel…" She was breaking in front of me. "You know I want to be with you."

"What's stopping you now, Quinn? Your popularity is no longer a threat since it's nonexistent." I hadn't meant to say that.

The Quinn that only came out to play when we were acting arrived. Her eyes grew cold, but the tears were still there. "What's stopping me is the fact that we built up these personifications of ourselves in which we hate each other, and our friends would think I have some kind of ulterior motive if I just up and dumped Finn for you. What's stopping me is the fact that I can't be public in a relationship with a girl because my parents would kick me out if they knew I was gay. What's stopping me is that I'm scared of the whispers and the slushies. What's stopping me…" But she clammed up.

"What, Quinn? What else could possibly be stopping you?" I questioned, the anger in me coming out.

"What's stopping me is I'm scared you may stop loving me and then I would be left with absolutely nothing!" she cried. "There! I said it! Happy now?"

My anger disappeared at the look of defeat on her face. I gathered her in my arms. "Oh, Quinn," I whispered. "I could never not love you."

"You say that now, but what happens when someone comes along in a couple of months when I'm huge from the baby? I won't be easy to get along with then because of all the hormones, and they'll come in and charm the pants off you." Was that really what she was worried about?

I chuckled tearily. When did I get tears? "Quinn, I didn't fall in love with you because you're the prettiest girl I've ever met."

"Then why? Why would anyone fall in love with me? In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a wreck." She gave me a weak smile as she pulled out of my hug.

"You were my friend when no one else would be. You saw the quirky, musical-loving me and not only accepted that, but embraced it. How could I not fall in love with you?" I questioned. "Plus you have these amazing eyes that I can't seem to get out of my head."

She rolled her beautiful eyes at this. "I love you, Rachel Berry."

"I love you too, head bitch Quinn Fabray," I replied with a smirk.

"Hey!" she cried, hitting me. "You just ruined a beautiful moment!"

I giggled. "Can't help if it's true." She gaped at me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go continue flirting with Mr Schue."

"What? Why?" she asked as I slipped out of her reach.

"Because you still haven't asked me to be your girlfriend again, even though we just declared our love for each other, which isn't okay" I answered. "Not to mention you're super hot when you're jealous."

* * *

Everything felt better with Rachel after we got what we needed to out in the open. It was as if we could finally go back to just being normal. Well, as normal as our relationship could be.

All I had left was to get through the Chastity Ball next week, and the dinner with my family and Finn which my father had moved up from Sunday to Thursday. It's safe to say I was internally freaking out the entire day.

The afternoon passed quickly, and before I knew it I was sitting at the table having dinner with them. Finn was saying something about ham but I could barely hear it over the rushing in my ears. I was terrified he would let something slip about the baby and then all hell would break loose.

Oh no. It was much worse than that.

When he brought out the radio, I was a bit worried. When he started singing, I honestly felt like it would've been easier to tell my parents I was a lesbian than to sit through that. I could have died right then and there.

He outed my pregnancy to my parents _through song._

The only thing I could think of was that Rachel was never going to win the bet because I was going to kill Finn before she had the chance. Then I was going to sing "Cell Block Tango" for Glee Club because he sure as hell had it coming.

My father didn't take the news well, as I knew he wouldn't.

"Get out of my house."

"Who are you? I don't recognize you at all."

My life had been on the downhill slide for some time now, and this had to be the bottom. If there was anything worse coming, I didn't think I could take it. I could barely take what I was going through at the moment. I tried to be brave, but I just couldn't stop crying. Everything was completely ruined.

Finn helped me pack, the only thing he'd been good for since we started dating. Then we were out in his truck and he was asking me what I wanted to do.

"Take me to Rachel's," I sobbed. She would hold me and tell me it would be alright; that things would get better. Maybe she would even sing "Tomorrow" from Annie.

"No, I can't let you go beat up Rachel, she didn't-"

"Just take me to Rachel's!" I yelled through tears. I didn't care about our damn appearances anymore. I needed her.

But he didn't. He thought I wanted to take out my frustration on her. So instead he drove me to his house where he asked his mom if I could stay with them for a while. I pulled myself together long enough to look okay in front of his mom.

The two of them made me a bed on their couch then left me to sleep. That wasn't happening. So once I had given them ample time to fall asleep, I got up and went outside.

I found myself dialing her number almost instantly.

"_Hello?"_

"Rachel." I heard my voice crack and knew I was about to start crying again.

"_Quinn, what is it? What's wrong?"_ It was unbelievable how she could tell something was wrong just from one word.

"Finn told my parents," I whispered.

"_That shit!" _This made me smile a bit; hearing Rachel curse was always funny.

"Rachel, can I come over to your house?" I asked quietly.

"_Yes of course. Wait are you sneaking out?"_

"They kicked me out." When I said those words, it finally hit me that it was real. "I'm at Finn's."

"_Oh, Quinn,"_ she sighed. _"I guess I better start making cookies."_

"That would be nice," I replied, and I could feel the tears coming down my face. "Do you have the Harry Potter movies?"

"_I- yes, I do. Is that what you want to watch?"_

"Please." I was about to break, but I still had to run to her house. I didn't have my car with me and probably wouldn't have it ever again.

"_Okay. I love you, Quinn. Be careful."_

"Love you too, Rach," I choked out.

Then I took off running and didn't stop until I couldn't breathe. It probably wasn't the best thought out plan, seeing as Rachel and Finn's houses weren't exactly close, but I had no other way. I walked until I could breathe evenly again and then started running. I repeated this until a car stopped in front of me.

I was about to run around it when the door opened and Rachel was enveloping me in a hug. "Why didn't you tell me you didn't have a car?"

"You're not old enough to drive," I mumbled into her hair.

"That doesn't matter. Get in."

* * *

Quinn was kind of a mess when I picked her up. She was barefoot and her hair was going everywhere. She was wearing a dress that looked like what she had probably worn to dinner, but definitely wasn't meant for running. What in the world was she thinking, running like that to my house in the middle of the night? I wasn't going to badger her about it though because she was hurt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked when we sat down in the kitchen with cookies and milk.

"No," I heard her murmur.

"Does anyone know where you are?" I questioned, knowing not to press her for information that she didn't want to give.

"No."

"Don't you think Finn-"

"No."

"Is that all you can say?" I teased, and I got the ghost of a smile from her.

"No."

"Do your feet hurt?" They should. She ran about three miles barefoot before I picked her up.

"Um…" She looked down at them, as if they might provide the answer for her. "Kind of."

"Well let's get them cleaned off," I said, taking our glasses and putting them in the sink before we went upstairs to my bathroom.

When I actually saw them up close, I realized it would take more than soap and water. "Shit, Quinn."

"What?" She looked from me to her feet, confused.

"Did you run on glass or something?" I questioned, getting down the first aid box from the cabinet.

"I don't know."

I cleaned the dirt and grime off first. Then came the hard part.

"Please don't kill me, but this is going to hurt quite a lot," I said, holding up a bottle of peroxide.

She smirked, thinking she could handle it, before I started pouring it on. "Don't worry I won't- FUCK!"

"Quinn! Language!" It was my turn to smirk, but not for long as she dug her nails into my arm from the pain. Well, at least she didn't kill me.

"Why would you do this to me?" she moaned as we waited a bit for it to settle.

"I'm going to have marks on my arm now," I stated when she relinquished it for me to look at.

"Serves you write for inflicting this pain on me," she muttered while I cleaned the peroxide off.

I gaped at her. "You're the one who decided to run three miles without shoes!"

She rolled her eyes at this. "Are we done yet, Nurse Berry?"

"Not yet. I need to put some Neosporin on the cuts and then wrap your feet in bandages," I replied, starting on that.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that really necessary?"

"Do you want to be able to walk tomorrow?"

"We could always just skip school tomorrow and have a sick day. I think I deserve it."

"And what would Finn think? He'll already be suspicious when he wakes up tomorrow and you're not there."

She sighed and let me continue.

After wrapping her feet, I went to get her pajamas that she left at my house for just these occasions. "Here. Change into these and I'll get the first Harry Potter movie set up in my room."

"We're watching it in your room?" she questioned.

"It would probably be beneficial if we slept in my bed and not all cramped up on the couch. It would also hurt your feet to hop back down the stairs," I replied before shutting the door to let her change.

I put the movie in and then got in the bed to wait on her. When she came out and snuggled into me, I started it.

We were both asleep before Harry even got to Hogwarts.

* * *

The next day started off okay. It was always nice waking up next to Rachel. Her dads were a bit confused when I came down to breakfast, but it was fine. I even convinced Rachel to stop her little flirting act with Mr Schue (it didn't hurt that I mentioned it right in front of her dads).

Things took a turn for the worse when I reached school.

Finn was on me mere seconds after I opened my locker. "Where did you go last night?"

"Out." I wasn't saying more than I had to.

"You couldn't bother to tell me?" he asked angrily.

"It was late and I couldn't sleep. I was being considerate in not waking you up," I retorted.

"You could've gotten hurt."

"As you can see, I'm fine." I didn't mention the cuts that were still healing on my feet. "I'm going to class."

With that, I shut my locker and strode away before he had time to say anything else.

* * *

After I apologized to Mr Schue for my behavior (and ran into a crazy Suzy Pepper in the bathroom), I had to find Quinn. The glee club were planning on singing to her that afternoon, and I knew if I didn't catch her in time she would skip rehearsal in favor walking to my house to nap and watch more Harry Potter.

"Quinn! Wait!" I called after her as I saw her about to go out the front door. She paused and turned around.

"What do you want, Berry?" She wasn't really in the mood to come up with a stupid nickname, I guess.

"You're needed in the choir room," I replied. She sighed and hesitantly followed me there.

"This isn't another song, is it?" she whispered in my ear.

I giggled. "Maybe. But don't worry, I got you out of dancing because I know your feet hurt."

"Thanks," she said before we went in.

"I found her!" I announced to the others. Everyone was there except for Finn, Kurt, and Mercedes. "You have to sit here." I directed her to a seat in the front.

Shortly after, the last three came in, and we sang Lean On Me to both Finn and Quinn. It was fitting that we planned to sing it on Friday. None of us could have known just how much Quinn would need it after being kicked out the night before.

Everything would be okay from then on out, or so I hoped.

* * *

**Song: Tomorrow- Annie**

**A/N: I love how the general consensus is that Quinn is a bitch and needs to get her shit together. Don't worry, it's coming. It's going to be too late, but it's coming.**


	20. Devastation and Reform

_"I feel like I was born_

_to devastation and reform_

_destroying everything I loved_

_and the worst part is_

_I pull my heart out, reconstruct_

_and in the end it's nothing but_

_the shell of what I had when I first started."_

**Centered around Hairography.**

If anything, going to Rachel's house got even harder. Finn was very suspicious of where I would go after school. I would tell him I was going on a walk or to the mall or numerous other believable excuses, but he didn't trust me. With my running to her house in the middle of the night that first night, I think I had him convinced I was cheating on him (which I kind of was, but that wasn't the point).

Sometimes he followed me. These were the difficult times. I would usually drive to the library (my car mysteriously appeared at Finn's house within the first week I was there, along with money being placed in my bank account every week. Guess my mom really did have some affection for me) if he tailed me, then jog the last few blocks to Rachel's house.

One time, though, he almost caught me.

That day, I didn't stay in the library long enough. I was in a hurry to get to her house, as it was a pretty day and we were going to read in the hammock in her backyard until it got dark. I was even going to have dinner with her and her dads because I didn't have strict Fabray dinners to be home for anymore.

I guess he spotted me coming out, and I didn't notice he was following me until I was halfway through my jog to Rachel's house. Internally, I panicked before getting ahold of myself and putting on some speed. It took cutting through a couple backyards and doubling around to get to her house, but I finally lost him and made it.

"Rachel Rachel Rachel," I muttered as I knocked furiously on her front door.

It took all too long for her to get there. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure I didn't see Finn's truck in the distance. I was just sure it would appear before Rachel got to the door.

"If you keep knocking like that you'll-" She started as she opened the door, but I brushed by her and practically ran into her living room so I didn't exactly hear the rest.

She appeared looking worried. "Is everything okay, Quinn?"

"Fuck no," I replied before going to the kitchen to get a glass of water. After all that running, I really needed one.

"Whatever it is, I don't think it requires the use of such words," she stated, having followed me.

"Finn followed me."

"Shit," she muttered, and I smirked at this. "Did he see you come here?"

"I don't think so."

"That's good. Though I don't know why it's such a big deal."

"In case you don't remember, we're kinda mortal enemies, Rach." She rolled her eyes at this.

"I'm sure you could come up with a good enough excuse," she replied, coming over to wrap her arms around my waist. I slid out of her embrace and started pacing the kitchen. She didn't get it. "Quinn…" I ignored her, trying to grasp at an excuse should he question me when I went back to his house. "Dear, it's going to be okay…"

"No it's not! So just shut up, Berry, and let me think!" I snapped at her. The hurt look on her face made me stop pondering excuses and come back down to Earth. Instantly I moved to take her in my arms. "I'm sorry, Rachel, I…"

"It's fine," she said, hugging me. But it wasn't. That wasn't me.

"I guess I'm just really stressed out."

"And that's perfectly understandable. Just maybe next time you don't have to take it out on me?" she suggested, pulling away so she could look me in the eyes.

I nodded.

"Okay, well, let's go read," she said, taking my hand and leading me to the backyard.

But as Rachel read our English assignment book, The Great Gatsby, to me, I couldn't concentrate. My mind kept floating back to me flipping out on Rachel, and all the times before. It would've been okay if it was a one-time thing, but it wasn't. This had happened several times and I wasn't really happy with it.

It wasn't us arguing that worried me. No, that was always guaranteed to happen with our current situation. It was me being a complete bitch to her that had me worried. I was only ever truly mean to her when acting so it was unusual. That's when it hit me.

I was turning into my character.

The moment I came to this realization I sat straight up, almost knocking both of us out of the hammock.

"What is it?" she asked, taking my hand to try and coax me to lay back down.

"I need to go," I replied, standing up.

"What? But you're supposed to have dinner with us!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I really can't." I couldn't risk being around her until I figured this out.

I was halfway to the back door when I heard her called my name. "Quinn?" I paused. "Why are you leaving?"

To protect you. But I didn't tell her that. I didn't tell her anything; I just walked out to start the run back to the library.

* * *

It was supposed to have been a great afternoon, and it was completely ruined thanks to Finn Hudson. Not only did he ruin my afternoon, but he also made it where Quinn was avoiding me.

The game we were playing was getting really old. I was sick of one of us ignoring the other and then making up for a couple days or weeks before going back at it. It was stupid, really.

I decided to let it go since Quinn was under a lot of pressure and if she didn't want to be around me then that was fine. After a week of silence though, enough was enough. She was going to talk to me and tell me exactly what was wrong this time. That was easier said than done.

She was not taking any chances in coming across me. While we had the same classes, she was the last one in and the first one out in each of them. It had never been like this before. I didn't understand it.

The worst part was I couldn't go corner her at her house anymore in a last attempt. If I showed up at Finn's wanting to talk to Quinn, it would be very suspicious.

So I waited, and grew more and more annoyed every day.

* * *

Every time I saw her, it killed me. She would glance my way in class with this hurt expression and it was like hitting the ground from atop a cheerleading pyramid.

But I couldn't talk to her. I couldn't risk being an ass and reverting to my character. She was too important for me to lose.

So to combat becoming my character, I had to do the exact opposite of what she would do. Would she give Puck another chance? Of course not. Which meant I would. Would she get Kurt to give Rachel a makeover which could ultimately result in her appearing attractive to Finn? Hell no. So I would.

I would not become a bitch. That was my character, not me. I would take control of this and then go back to Rachel.

It would go back to just being an act.

* * *

When Kurt came up to me and said he was going to give me a makeover, I was surprised. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. Kurt didn't like me at all. In fact, I could probably say he hated me. So why?

I asked him on the day he came to my house to give me a makeover. "Kurt, why did you volunteer to give me a new look?"

At least it took my mind off of Quinn for a while. But only for a bit, because everything always goes back to Quinn.

"One, I'm a sucker for makeovers," he stated. "And two, you need something to distract from your horrible personality." I gaped. He had no idea of how overly exaggerated my public personality was. "Most of the time, I find it hard to be in the same room with you. Especially this one, which looks like where Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobbie come to hook up." Would that make Quinn Holly Hobbie? Because obviously I was Strawberry Shortcake.

There was Quinn, invading my every thought.

"You're extremely talented, Rachel. Watching you perform is… amazing. But sometimes it's hard to appreciate what a good singer you are because all I'm thinking about is shoving a sock into your mouth." Maybe I should tone down my personality a bit? But then Quinn would lose one of her favorite things to tease me about when act- dammit! She wasn't going away, no matter how much I tried to not think about her.

I ignored his rude comments. "Well, what kind of makeover did you have in mind?"

"We need to broaden your appeal. I want every boy at school to do a double take when you strut past," he explained. What about Quinn?

"There's really only just…" Quinn, but I couldn't say that. Back to the whole acting in love with Finn Hudson routine. "One boy that I'd like to impress. Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course." That was such a lie. He was one of the biggest gossips in school.

If he was going to lie, then I would too. "I'm in love with Finn."

"Really?" I nodded. From the looks of it, it wasn't what he was expecting. His entire attitude changed then.

There was no telling what he would do to me, but I really didn't care. No matter what, it was sure to be drastic enough to catch Quinn's attention and that's why I agreed to it in the first place.

* * *

I was going to kill Kurt. Like seriously, he would not live through the day if I saw him.

Did he have to make Rachel so fucking attractive?

The moment I saw her for the first time as I walked to my locker before class, I swear my heart stopped. She just… Those legs… And that ass! And boobs! She basically turned me into a gawking teenage boy.

If I ever doubted my sexuality before, I didn't after that.

It took a lot, but I restrained myself… until after first period. I just couldn't ignore her anymore.

"You," I said, grabbing her wrist as we walked out of class. "Come with me."

I steered her to the bathroom, all the while glaring at people so they would part. It didn't normally work like that anymore, but I think they could tell that they really needed to part this one time.

When we entered, I checked to make sure no one else was in there. "Quinn, whatever it is this time it has to wait because I-"

She didn't get to finish speaking as I collided into her and caught her off guard. It didn't take her long to respond though. We ended up against the door kissing furiously, only stopping when we could no longer breathe.

"I missed you so much," I whispered after catching my breath.

"I was right here the entire time," she murmured.

I sighed and went to kiss her again, but she deflected it.

"Quinn, we need to talk about why you completely ignored me for a week," she stated, slipping out from in between me and the door.

"Not now when you look so sexy," I whined, hoping she would come back over and let me kiss her.

She pretended not to hear me and started ranting. "We can't keep doing this! I'm tired of being ignored by you and then being pulled into the bathroom or a closet or the auditorium to make out and make up!"

"Me too," I admitted, dropping to sit on the floor with my back against the wall.

"Then why? Why did you do this? Is it because you're scared Finn knows?" she questioned, coming to sit beside me. She would ruin that dress.

"No I…" But I couldn't tell her.

"Just tell me what I did so I can apologize for it," she begged. At this, I laughed. She thought I was upset at her? Hardly. "What?"

"It's not you, dear, it's me."

"Quinn Fabray you did not just give me the 'it's not you it's me' line. Isn't that usually reserved for people breaking up?"

I giggled, having not realized that's what it sounded like. "Sorry."

"What's wrong?" she asked, taking my hand in hers.

"I… I think I'm becoming my character," I whispered, staring at our hands intertwined to stay in control of my emotions.

It was her turn to laugh. I looked up at her, wondering what exactly was so funny about me becoming a cold-hearted bitch.

She stopped when she saw my face. "Sorry, it's just you're nowhere near your character."

"But-"

"That's really the reason you've been avoiding me?" The way she said it, it made me feel extremely stupid.

"Yeah."

She sighed. "Quinn, if you were your character, you would be calling me really horrible nicknames instead of holding my hand. If you were your character, you would've brought me in this bathroom to slap me for not staying away from Finn, and instead you made out with me against the door."

"But I've been really mean to you lately," I stated.

"The only mean thing you've done is ignore me. Anything else you've done that you may consider mean is caused by being around Santana Lopez too much and your pregnancy hormones, neither of which we can do anything about." She waved me off and stood up. "Now let's go to class before we're extremely late." She offered her hand and when I took it, she pulled me up.

"You would tell me if I ever started to become her, right?" I asked as we lingered at the door.

"Of course," she replied brightly.

"Good. By the way, you do look extremely hot right now," I added, smirking at her. "Maybe we should just skip the class?"

"Quinn Fabray I am appalled that you would want to skip class!" she cried, but I noticed she backed up a bit from the door.

"Deflecting the question," I singsonged.

"One condition."

"And what's that?"

"You have to sing 'What is This Feeling' from Wicked with me."

"But isn't that about hating each other?"

"It very much fits our acting relationship."

"Ugh. Fine. As long as we get to do other things with the time we have left."

"Oh definitely. Race you to the auditorium?"

"You're on."

* * *

Everything was better. Quinn and I were back to speaking. I had secured a date with Finn for Friday night in which I would attempt to win him over. Sure, Glee wasn't as good as it could be with all the unnecessary hairography, but things were looking up

What was surprising, though, was how well Quinn was taking the news of me having a date with Finn. I had expected her to be against it, but she was all for it when I mentioned it to her. I didn't question it because things were finally back to normal with us and I didn't want to mess it up again.

Instead, I just invited her to spend the night with me after my date with Finn. She's babysitting that night, but said she would come afterwards. I had a bit of a surprise for her. But first things first.

The date with Finn was… a disaster to say the least. Apparently Finn wasn't as attracted to me in a catsuit as I thought he would be. Kurt set me up to fail! No matter. I would win him over another day and Quinn would appreciate my efforts when she arrived. Having talked about it before, I knew she would love to sing 'You're the One I Want' from Grease with me.

"Rachel?" I heard from downstairs.

"Up here!" I called out, suddenly growing nervous. What if Quinn didn't like it? What if she reacted like Finn? What if-

Quinn opened the door and when she saw me, she gaped. "Holy shit am I dreaming?"

I giggled. "No, dear."

"Are you sure? Because there's no way you're my Rachel Berry," she stated, shaking her head, trying to wake up. "I mean, I know I told her one time it'd be sexy to see her in a catsuit so we could reenact that scene from Grease but-"

To reassure her it was all real, I walked over and kissed her.

When we broke apart, she sighed happily. "Yeah okay, you're real."

"Then you're ready to sing?" I asked, going over to my cd player.

"Sing?"

"I didn't dress up like this just to tease you, Quinn."

* * *

In all honesty, I had a pretty good Friday night. Even before going over to Rachel's, it was okay. Giving Puck a chance was a good idea, because maybe I could keep my baby, and maybe just maybe I could get rid of some of the lies. If I could get rid of even a few of the lies, especially this big one about Finn being the father, life would be easier and Rachel would be happier and maybe she would dress up in a catsuit more often.

Except for one problem: Santana.

Santana and I… I wouldn't really describe us as friends. I think she only tolerated me because I was captain of the Cheerios and because Brittany liked me. But ever since I got kicked off the squad, things were a little strained between us. It was mainly her thinking she was better than me since she was a Cheerio, but also because Puck would flirt with me.

Though I knew all this, I wasn't exactly prepared when she confronted me at my locker Monday morning. She warned that I should stay away from "her man", even though it shouldn't really matter since they were only fuck buddies. Why she needed him for sex was beyond me when she already had Brittany (never having a sleepover with those two again, no matter how much Brittany wants me there).

Then she claimed that she had been sexting with Puck during our babysitting on Friday night. If that was true, I couldn't be with Puck instead of Finn. It would just hurt my reputation even more if I was with a player. But I had to make sure first.

Sure enough, it was true. Fucking Santana.

That's when I decided that it was okay if I became my character in a way. I wasn't meant to give people second chances. That was just setting myself up to fail. I could be the cold, heartless bitch I was known for to people, just as long as I wasn't to Rachel.

So I delved back into the lies and went back to Finn. It was so much easier to ignore everything; to lie and be emotionless. Though one day it would all come crashing down on me.

If only I knew how close that day was.

* * *

**Song: Devastation and Reform- Relient K**

**A/N: Thinking about taking a break after I post Sectionals. It's a good place to break and with school piling up (not to mention the chapters getting way longer), I just don't have the time to churn out a chapter every week. It's starting to take two or three weeks which means I'm running out of my queue of chapters backed up. So I'll probably be taking a small break from OGAC for a week or two, just enough to clear my mind. Maybe I'll even write the one-shot I plotted during government class a couple weeks ago that features Grease faberry (which was way before I found out about the Grease episode Glee's doing). I dunno yet. I might not even take a break because the two chapters following Sectionals (Rachel's birthday and New Year's Eve) are probably my favorites so far. I'll let you know when we get there!**


	21. Darling, I Do

_"I know plenty of people_

_with eyes closed_

_they don't see you like I do_

_darling, I do_

_darling, I do see you."_

**Centered around Mattress.**

There was just something about waking up in Quinn's arms. It reminded me why exactly I went through everything I did. It was all worth it for this feeling of love and security that only happened so often when she could get away and spend the night.

Most days, she would have to get up early for Cheerios practice and leave me, but not anymore. I could cuddle with her all day if I wanted, except Quinn had other things in mind.

"Rach?" she murmured in my ear. I almost jumped. I had no clue she was awake yet.

"Hm?" I asked, not turning to look at her, content to fall back asleep in her arms.

"You awake?"

"Mmm," I replied noncommittally.

"Good." And with that, she began tickling me relentlessly. So much for sleeping in.

"Quinn!" I gasped when I could catch my breath. "Stop!"

"Or what?" she questioned with a smirk, pausing for a second to let me answer.

"Or I won't finish reading 'The Great Gatsby' with you."

"That's a punishment?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "I read by myself all the time. In fact, it would probably be faster that way."

"Are you implying that I'm a slow reader?"

"Yes."

"Quinn!" But before I could say anything else she was back to tickling me and I was back to trying to squirm my way out of her reach. "Fine! No… More… Kisses!"

She gasped. The second she let up, I tackled her, pinning her to the bed, gripping her wrists so she couldn't tickle anymore.

"Someone's gotten strong," she commented, grinning at me.

"Or maybe someone's just gotten a little weak," I replied, smirking at the girl under me.

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Rachel Berry I know you did not just say that."

"I think I did."

"Then you leave me no choice." Before I even knew what was happening, she had reversed our positions. Now it was her sitting on my stomach, holding me down by the wrists. "Now what was that you were saying about me being weak?"

I rolled my eyes at this. "Showoff."

She chuckled. "Look who's talking!" I couldn't deny that, so I just smiled up at her.

When she saw my smile, she knew she had won. So she leaned down and kissed me. "Were you really going to ban our kisses?" she whispered after we broke apart, her face just inches from mine.

"You know I could never do that," I answered, and she rolled off of me to lay back down.

"Then don't make empty threats. I'm going back to sleep," she yawned before turning away from me.

"Quinn," I whined. "You can't just wake me up and leave me."

"'M not leaving you. Just sleeping," she mumbled.

"Do I need to tickle you?"

"Not ticklish."

For some reason, I didn't believe that at all. "How about we test that out?" She didn't give me a chance, though.

Quinn quickly turned back to face me. "Okay, I'm up. What now?"

"Well, we could talk," I suggested.

"About?"

"Um…" I had to think for a moment to figure out a good topic. In the end I came up with nothing and had to use the fallback. "School?"

She grimaced. "Why would you want to talk about that?"

Now that I thought about it, it probably wasn't the best idea to bring up the place where we had to pretend to hate each other. So I switched it to something safe. "Yearbook pictures are coming up."

"Really? So is it gonna be an animal sweater or argyle?" she teased.

"Why not both?"

"Rachel you can't be serious."

"Don't worry, I'm not," I assured her. "I'm thinking about actually dressing normal for this."

"That's good. Going to join all the clubs again for the week of the picture?"

"Hey!" I cried. "I am a valued member of all those clubs!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. That's why you only go to the meetings on the week of yearbook pictures." When I thought about it, I guess she was right. "I take your silence as victory."

I decided to let her have her little victory. "So are you excited about pictures?"

Quinn made a face. "Why would I be? They're just pictures. Besides, the only picture I'll be in is Glee, and that one always gets defaced."

"Surely you'll be in the Cheerios picture? After all you were captain." Hopefully this wouldn't bring on any unwanted emotions. I was very careful about mentioning cheerleading around Quinn.

She burst out laughing at this. I frowned. "What?"

"We had to reshoot last year's picture when I got the captain kicked off so I could join Cheerios. So to answer your question, no, I won't be in the Cheerios picture." Wait a second, Quinn got someone kicked off last year? _That's_ how she got on?

"Quinn Fabray-" I started, but she jumped up, probably realizing what she had let slip.

"Let's go see if your dads have breakfast ready," she stated, taking my hand and pulling me out the door.

"Don't think we're done talking about this," I warned as we went down the stairs.

"Of course not," she smiled. "This is you we're talking about, after all."

* * *

I would never say it to Rachel, but I really did want to be in that Cheerios picture, and I had been plotting on how best to do it. I wanted proof left behind that yes, I actually did accomplish something in my high school career. Sure, it only lasted a few months before it all went to shit, but without that picture it was like it hadn't existed at all and I sacrificed way too much for it to disappear.

The problem was I didn't really know how to go about this. Trying to find the chink in Sue Sylvester's armor was near impossible. And I couldn't ask Rachel the evil genius for help because she ranted for half an hour when I told her the full story of how I landed a spot on the Cheerios. I probably deserved that though.

Until I figured out what I could do, I would just have to watch and wait. We still had a while before they were actually taken.

Somehow, I would make it into that picture, even if I had to photobomb it.

* * *

They voted me captain. The _entire _glee club voted me captain. And here I was thinking they all hated me.

Yes, I knew that they only voted for me because I was the only one who wanted to be it and face the ridicule that came with the title, but I didn't care. This was a happy moment for me and nothing could ruin it.

Especially after Quinn pulled me into the janitor's closet for a celebratory make out session.

The high that came with this bottomed out when Mr Schue called me in to say I needed a co-captain. That was about as likely to happen as Quinn getting into the Cheerios picture. But I still had to try.

"Quinn please?"

"Not happening."

"But no one else will!"

"Exactly. From their view, why would the girl who hates you agree to this?"

"Ulterior motive?" I suggested. She rolled her eyes.

"Nice try, Rach. Ask someone else."

There was one last thing I could try. "Please? If you do it, I'll do anything."

She arched her eyebrow, amusement written on her face. "Anything?"

I quickly tried to correct my mistake. "Well not anything-"

"Then no."

I pouted. "Fine. I'll just ask Finn. I'm sure he'll do this for me."

Quinn's playfulness disappeared. "You wouldn't."

"If he's my last resort, then yes."

"I would've thought he was your first resort."

"Of course not, silly. You're my first resort."

She smiled with relief. "He won't agree with it though."

"Whatever you say."

* * *

Somehow, and I probably don't want to know how, Rachel did convince Finn to be the glee club's co-captain. That's what she told me, at least.

So why exactly I passed him in the hallway during the time that he was supposed to have his picture taken with Rachel, I didn't know. It hit me when I turned the corner like a slushie to the face. I was back around and slamming him into a locker before I knew what I was doing.

"Woah, Quinn, what did I do this time?" he asked, holding his hands up in surrender.

"There any particular reason why you're not getting your picture taken right now?" I growled.

"My football picture isn't until this afternoon…" he stated, confused. "And basketball isn't-"

I cut him off. "Anything else?"

"Is this about Glee?" he questioned, finally getting it. "Because the guys-"

"You promised Rachel," I replied, not letting him give excuses.

He looked even more confused. "Why do you care so much about Rachel?"

"I…" Shit. I had messed up. Play it off, Fabray. "I don't. But I do care about Glee Club." It was weak, but I couldn't think of anything else.

"Then you go take the picture if you care so much," he shrugged me off and continued on his way down the hall, and I was left wondering if Rachel and I were going to be watching Funny Girl for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

I waited outside the door for her. It would probably have looked suspicious, except everyone was in class so I wasn't that worried about it. I was supposed to be in study hall, but it didn't matter. Rachel was far more important.

While waiting, I let my mind wander. I still hadn't figured out exactly how I was going to get in the Cheerios picture. It would be ideal if I could not only get into the picture, but also back on the squad. That was a bit unrealistic, though. Then again, the entire thing was unrealistic so why not shoot for the stars?

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost didn't notice Rachel pass me.

"Berry!" I called out. She froze and turned around to face me.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Quinn?" she asked carefully. Her guard was up, but I could still tell that she was happy. Why was she happy?

"Not in public," I muttered, dragging her into the nearest bathroom.

When I was sure it was clear, I spoke. "I just ran into Finn when he was supposed to get his picture with you. I assume this means he didn't show."

"He didn't," she confirmed, but she didn't look the least bit disappointed.

"And you're okay with this?" I asked, confused.

"Not in the least, but I've got other things on my mind at the moment," she replied.

"Oh. And what are they?"

"You'll find out if you show up to Glee this afternoon," she grinned, and with that she was walking out, leaving me even more confused than before.

* * *

My philosophy is to take a bad situation and turn it to my advantage. That's how the glee club ended up starring in a commercial for mattresses.

"Is it time yet?" Quinn asked, sitting back down on my couch with a plate of cookies and some soy milk for both of us.

"Not yet," I replied. "The news is still on."

She huffed and put an entire cookie in her mouth, impatient. We knew that the commercial was airing sometime during the eleven o'clock news, but we had no idea exactly when. So Quinn and I had been camped out on the couch since the news started. She had eventually gotten bored (and hungry) and went to put some pre-made cookies in the oven.

At first, I had wanted us to have a big Glee party to watch the commercial. Quinn quickly brought me back to my senses by reminding me that if we did that, the two of us wouldn't be able to cuddle while waiting. So there we were, a quarter till midnight and watching Sue's Corner, snuggled together under a blanket and having cookies and milk.

"What'd you tell Finn to get away for the night?" I yawned, which made me realize just how sleepy I was. Normally I didn't stay up this late on school nights, what with my morning elliptical workout, but this was a special occasion.

"That Brittany wanted me to watch it with her and Lord Tubbington," she answered after she swallowed a mouthful of cookie. "He didn't mind. I think he was gonna have an xbox tournament with Puck, Mike, and Matt anyway."

I nodded before taking a cookie for myself. "These are the vegan ones, right?"

"There's food in your house that isn't vegan?" she asked in mock astonishment.

Every time she came over, I wouldn't let her have anything but vegan food, even though Daddy wasn't a vegan and therefore we did have other food. I was secretly hoping to turn her into a vegan so when we got married and lived together we would have the same diet, but it was doubtful because she loved bacon probably more than she loved me.

"Quinn, are these vegan?" I repeated.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course. Do you really think I would be so insensitive as to eat cookies that weren't vegan right in front of your face? I'm even drinking your half-ass soy milk!"

"Language!"

"Shh! The commercials are starting!"

We held our breaths, hoping that this would finally be it. Sure enough, ours was the first commercial on this lineup. When it started, I squealed. Quinn hugged me around the waist, whether in excitement or to keep me from jumping on the couch to reenact our Jump routine, I'll never know.

"Congrats, star," she whispered in my ear when it was over.

I beamed at her. "You were in it, too. That makes you a star just as much as me."

She giggled. "Yeah, because my face took up half the screen. Rach, you were the real star. The rest of us were just in the background."

"Either way, we need to get upstairs to bed. I don't think I'll be excused from my history test just for being a star."

* * *

Shit.

With one more day until the Cheerios picture, I had decided to just confront Coach and see if she would let me on. I had had no luck in coming up with ideas to get back on the squad, so I thought I would try this. I expected rejection, but what I didn't expect was for her to tell me that the glee club was disqualified from Sectionals because of our commercial.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

They would all blame Rachel. She was the one who got us the commercial. Oh God, Rachel would be devastated.

I quickly shot off a text to her.

_Meet me in the auditorium for lunch._

If I convinced her to skip Glee with me for the day, it would be alright. We would avoid most of the hate. But if I couldn't…

_**Any particular reason why?**_

_Yes, but none I'm going to tell you via text._

_**Okay… I'll be there.**_

For the next two classes, I was fidgety. Rachel kept breaking character, shooting me concerned looks, even though I texted her to stop. She shouldn't have been concerned for me.

If anything good came of this, it was the fact that my mind was completely off the Cheerios picture for once. Every single inch of my mind was devoted to worrying about Rachel, the future of the glee club, how the others would take this news, how _Rachel _would take this news. I simply didn't have the capacity to think about anything else. It was a good thing I had taken my history test before I talked to Coach.

Finally, class let out and I could meet up with Rachel in the auditorium.

I was the first one there, so I sat on the stage and let my legs hang over the edge, waiting. She wasn't far behind, but long enough not to cause suspicion.

"Hey," she called, walking down the aisle toward the stage. "What's going on?"

"Um…" I literally had no idea how to go about telling her this. So I decided to stall. "Why don't you come sit down?"

She looked confused, but she smiled anyway and joined me on the stage. "Now can you tell me?"

"Ah, why don't we have lunch first?" I still wasn't sure on what to say. She wasn't waiting though.

"Quinn, I can take it, whatever it is you have to say. Unless it's something completely outrageous, like Finn proposed to you or you never want to speak to me again," she joked.

I chuckled weakly. "No, nothing like that."

"Then tell me," she prodded, taking my hand.

I sighed. "I just ran into Coach Sylvester, and I decided to ask if I could be back on the Cheerios."

"And she let you on! I'm so happy for you!" she cried, hugging me. Her joy quickly died when she saw I wasn't smiling and confirming it.

"No, she was her usual self and made fun of me before saying no," I replied, avoiding her eyes.

"You knew it was impossible anyway, so why are you so upset?"

"She also mentioned that Glee is probably disqualified from Sectionals," I mumbled.

She reacted exactly the way I thought she would. Complete panic. "What?" she shrieked. "How is this possible? What did we even do? Quinn! You're withholding information from me!"

"She kind of said it was because of the commercial," I muttered, still unable to look at her.

She gasped. "Have I singlehandedly destroyed the glee club?"

I finally looked at her and wished I hadn't. Tears were forming in her eyes and it almost broke me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "Rach no, don't cry. There was no way you could've known. It's not your fault."

"But it is," she whispered, burying her face into my neck.

"But it's not," I retaliated.

"Don't argue with me, Fabray," she giggled. This was a good sign. I had expected sobbing.

"Can we skip Glee today?" I asked. "I have something I want to work on with you."

"Do you really, or are you just trying to keep me safe from the angry mob?"

"Both actually," I admitted.

"Still, I can't miss Glee."

"Says the girl who missed several rehearsals because she didn't get a solo."

"You know it wasn't about that."

"No, it wasn't," I agreed. "So what do you say? Skip Glee and sing a duet with me."

"We're singing?" She perked up immediately.

"Yes. So I'll meet you here after our last class?"

"Definitely."

* * *

This time, I was the first one in the auditorium. I took a seat on the piano bench, predicting we would be using the piano in our duet. Hopefully she was the one to play it, seeing as I couldn't exactly just pick up a new song and play.

She came in grinning, which was such an attitude change from the sad, defeated girl I saw a couple hours ago.

"Did something else happen?" I questioned as she plopped down on the bench beside me, sheet music in hand.

"I got Glee a full page in the yearbook," she replied, beaming at me.

"That's… That's great!" I exclaimed. "But how?"

"Well, I started thinking about how we couldn't compete because we received stuff for the commercial, and it hit me. The Cheerios got free shit all the time! So I went to Coach to state my demands: get back on the Cheerios and in the picture, and get Glee a picture."

"So you're on the Cheerios again?" I asked. And here I was thinking that maybe she would stay at the bottom of the popularity pyramid with me and we would date again.

She shook her head. "No, I realized that I didn't really want to go back to that, even if just for a picture. At least, not now. I have two more years to do Cheerios. Right now I need to focus on more important things: school, my pregnancy, and you."

I smiled at this. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now kiss me because not only did I get Glee a picture like you wanted, but this will also take their anger away from you and place it on me." I happily obliged to her request.

"What song are we singing?"

"It's called 'Darling, I Do'," she replied, placing the sheet music on the piano.

"I've never heard it, but if you'll lead then I'm sure I'll pick it up quickly."

So we skipped out on Glee in favor of singing love songs together, because we knew in the end everything would turn out alright as long as we had each other.

* * *

**Song: Darling, I Do- Landon Pigg, Lucy Schwartz**

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this fluffy chapter, because the next three are going to basically be just like it in terms of amount of cuteness. Well, for the most part. But lots of exciting things next chapter! Sectionals!**


	22. Trademark

_"Told myself what I need to hear_

_I think the point was very clear_

_I showed me what we'd missed since we_

_slipped into inconsistency."_

**Centered around Sectionals.**

Everything was catching up with me and I was tired. Tired of all the lies. Tired of having to park at the library and run to Rachel's. Tired of hiding behind the great wall of Finn just so I would have a lesser chance of being slushied.

And I was feeling pretty guilty too. I had used so many people, and I still was in a way. I was hiding Rachel away like she was some dirty little secret instead of the person I love the most. It was starting to hit me how wrong this was, how wrong all of it was.

There's only so long you can be an emotionless bitch before a crack appears. No matter how small or insignificant that crack may be, it's enough to let all the emotions come flooding back in. And when Rachel sang with me, I was ripped open to all emotions.

I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have asked her to do it, either. This wasn't a game I should've asked her to play. Sure, it made me feel better about what I was doing with Finn, but it still didn't take away the hurt I was causing her.

So I decided that it was time to put a stop to it all.

I had had so much taken from me in the past few months, but this time I was finally giving up something willingly.

The lies would stop, and Rachel Berry would finally have her fucking girlfriend back.

* * *

When Quinn texted me the next day saying we needed to talk, _again_, I had no idea what to expect. The Glee fiasco was taken care of, with our only casualty being unable to have Mr Schue there. Neither of us had done anything to piss the other off that I was aware of. So what was it?

We met in the auditorium once again during our lunch break. Ever since Quinn got kicked off the Cheerios, we were able to do this a lot more often since Brittany and Santana no longer cared if she showed up.

I found her in the back row in our seats.

"Hey," I said softly, still unsure what I was there for as I sat down beside her.

She smiled wearily and took my hand in hers. "How was class?"

"The same as yours," I replied. We were both in advanced classes, so we were hardly ever apart.

Quinn shook her head, chuckling to herself. "There's no point in small talk with you, is there?"

"Nope," I confirmed. "So tell me what's up."

"I…" she hesitated for a bit, so I squeezed her hand to assure her that I was there no matter what. "I think I'm ready to stop running."

That didn't help my confusion one bit. "Be specific please, dear."

"I don't want to lie anymore."

My heart soared. Did she mean..? "Like about how you're not actually a cold-hearted bitch who hates me?"

"That and how Finn isn't the father and everything. I can't do this anymore, Rach. It's just too hard, and frankly it's not worth it," she explained. "It's hurting you, and I don't like hurting you." Sure, it did hurt a bit when I saw her and Finn kissing, but I was, I guess you could say used to it by then.

"It's not-" I started to protest, but she held up her hand for silence.

"I can see it is. The reason we've fought so much since school started back is the lies. So they're stopping. Not all at once, because I can't just spill everything to the world, that's not who I am, but I'm going to try one at a time."

I felt myself tearing up. Finally. Finally Quinn was coming to her senses. Just in time for Sectionals and my birthday and the holidays. "That's so brave of you, Quinn." I hugged her tightly to let her know how proud I was of her.

When we pulled away, her eyes were sparkling in a way I hadn't seen since we were dating. They were filled with happiness and love. They no longer hid any of the secrets they had been burdened with since school started. "I'll need your help though. I can't do this in my own. I know it's a lot to ask, seeing as I got into this mess all by myself, but-"

I silenced her with a kiss. "Of course I'll help in any way I can."

She sighed in relief."You're amazing, you know that?"

I giggled. "So I've been told."

* * *

Though I wouldn't say it was easy admitting that I was ready to stop the lies, it was much easier than actually doing it. Every time I tried to talk to Finn about the issue, I would just freeze over. It was hard, especially knowing he wasn't going to react well to the news that I had been lying to him about the child being his.

When I talked to Rachel about this, she just said to let her take care of it. This worried me quite a lot. Rachel was known for accomplishing anything she put her mind to, but sometimes it could have consequences. I didn't know if I could handle what consequences she got me stuck with, but I trusted her.

So when Rachel came up to me in the hallway and started talking about genetic Jewish diseases, I went along with it. I had no idea where she was going with it, but I played along. I even asked Puck to take me to the doctor to make sure that my baby didn't have those diseases, though that was probably a bit overkill. If this was one of the last times I was going to act, I was pulling out all the stops.

With no clue as to what she had planned, it was rather unexpected to get to Glee Club later that day to find Finn beating the shit out of Puck.

* * *

When I look back on it, telling Finn that he wasn't the father of Quinn's baby right before Sectionals probably wasn't the best idea. We should've waited until afterwards, so he couldn't quit when we needed him most. But what was done was done. It was Quinn's choice as to when to get rid of the lies, and I was blinded by happiness at the thought of us being a couple again soon.

Quinn acted best when doing improv, so not telling her that I was telling Finn was for the best. She probably wouldn't have been able to conjure tears if I had told her ahead of time. This was the reasoning I told myself to feel better when I saw how heartbroken she looked in the choir room.

When she ran out, I waited a few minutes before following her. She didn't want all the secrets out at once, so I respected that and kept up the guise that we were mortal enemies instead of best friends. Though when I found her sitting out in a public place in the hall, it confused me a bit. Did she want to act? Did she want me to leave her alone? This was my problem with improv.

She saw me though, before I could make a decision, which meant I was trapped. I decided to act; it was the safest route to take.

"I'm so sorry. I fully understand if you want to beat me up. If you can, just try to avoid my nose." I closed my eyes, waiting for an actor slap or punch that I had taught her last month during Thanksgiving break. But it never came.

"I'm not mad at you," she whispered, and I felt it safe to open my eyes again. "All you did was what I wasn't brave enough to do: tell the truth." Wait… Were we acting or was this my Quinn? It could honestly be either one at this point, but it's not like I could just ask her, so I went for acting.

"I was selfish when I told him," I admitted, sitting down beside her. "I wanted to break you two up, so he would want to be with me." Not entirely a lie. I wanted the two to break up so she could be with me. It was an added bonus that it actually happened from telling him the truth about Quinn.

"And now neither of us have him." If she wasn't acting, she sure picked up on it quick. See? Quinn Fabray: great at improv. "I have hurt so many people." There was my Quinn, shining through the cracks of her bitchy character. But as soon as she came, she was gone.

After a bit of silence, she finally looked at me. "Can you go now? I just really want to be alone."

I sighed internally, not wanting to leave her there to cry by herself, but I did as she wished and left. As soon as I was far enough away, I would send her a text to see if she was alright and to find out once and for all if she was acting.

Before I could get even ten steps away there was Noah. We stopped for a minute and I glared at him, warning him that he better not make her hurt anymore than she already was, knowing he was going to see Quinn. He seemed to get the message, and I continued on.

Hopefully I didn't screw up everything by telling Finn. I mean, she gave me permission, didn't she?

* * *

They just had to cause a scene, didn't they? Guess that was the "consequence" of not talking to Finn on my own and in private.

The text came as I was almost out the door.

_**You okay?**_

I decided to ignore it for a bit and go for a run on the track to let out everything. It was either that, or go pack up my things from Finn's house because he surely wasn't going to let me stay there anymore. That was probably something I should've planned ahead for. I was homeless, _again._

As I always did, I let the run take over me. My mind shut down, and all I was left with was the sound of my feet on the asphalt. Since I set a steady pace, I didn't have to stop. My Cheerios training had me where I could go for miles, and that's just what I planned to do.

That is, until I heard a second pair of feet beside me when I was on my ninth lap.

Of course it was Rachel. She always found me, no matter where I hid. It was only a matter of time. But hell if I was stopping my run until my legs no longer functioned.

So we ran alongside each other for a while in silence. I don't really know how long, maybe two or three laps. Then I got a bit too close to the grass of the football field and she tackled me onto it.

"Shit Rachel, I'm pregnant!" I cried, hitting the ground tangled with her. "What was that for?"

"To make you stop before you faint from exhaustion. It wouldn't be good for the baby," she replied, untangling from me so she could lay on the ground beside me.

"I used to run longer and faster every day at Cheerios practice," I stated.

She rolled her eyes at this. "Yes, well you also weren't pregnant then. Why didn't you answer my text? I had no idea if we were acting back there, or if you were actually upset with me or…"

"It was a bit of both, I guess," I answered honestly. "But I'm not mad at you. I wish you'd have given me a bit of a warning beforehand though, but like I said, I'm not mad at you. You helped me when I asked you to."

"But if I had told you then you wouldn't have had a truthful reaction." She gave me that award-winning Rachel Berry smile and I melted. There was just no way to be anything but happy when I saw that.

"I guess you're right, but you didn't have to tackle me to prove it," I said, poking her. She giggled. "I mean, what if one of us got hurt right before Sectionals?"

"It's not like we'll get to perform at Sectionals anyway without a twelfth member," she mumbled, staring up at the sky.

"I'm sure we'll find a replacement, even if it's that creepy Jacob guy," I joked, and she looked over at me in shock. "What?"

"You just jinxed it! Now we're sure to have him and he'll probably say pervy things to me at the least!" she cried, burying her face into my shoulder when she was done with her rant.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," I promised her, and she looked up at me in confusion.

"But we're supposed to be enemies," she stated.

I shrugged. "Yeah, we're supposed to, but we're also all cuddly on the football field where anyone can walk by."

"So we're really done with the act?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, didn't I tell you I was tired of lying?"

If at all possible, her smile grew even more. "Does this mean we can date again?"

"In due time," I assured her. "But right now we need to focus on Sectionals and I need to figure out where I'm going to live."

"Come stay with me."

"I just might have to take you up on that offer."

* * *

Quinn jinxed it. She totally jinxed it!

I turned around and glared at her when I saw Jacob get on the bus. She grinned at me and started to make her way back toward me on the bus. She had gone back there with Santana and Brittany when we all first got on because Brittany was talking to her about Lord Tubbington and Quinn wasn't the type of person to just be rude and break off a conversation.

But before she could get to me, Jacob was sitting down, putting his arm around me. I focused on the view outside the window and started hyperventilating, sure that I was going to have to endure the entire ride to Sectionals with him.

"Excuse me, but that's my seat," a voice said sweetly but with a coldness that no one would dare question. I whipped my head around and found Quinn, my savior, there.

"S-sorry Miss Fabray," he stammered, practically running to the back of the bus. Quinn grinned triumphantly and sat down beside me.

I sighed with relief. "Thanks."

"I promised to protect you, didn't I?" she whispered.

"I… I didn't think you'd actually do it," I admitted softly. It was hard to believe Quinn wasn't going to treat me like an enemy in front of others. I couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Have a little more faith in me," she replied, laying her head on my shoulder. "Now I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me when we get there?"

"Okay," I breathed.

I looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to us. Everyone seemed wrapped up in their own lives, except Tina, who sat in the aisle across from us. She was staring at us weirdly, and I was glad Quinn didn't have her eyes open. If she had, she might've shied away from me.

Quinn said she was ready to be in a relationship with me again, but did that mean openly or secretly like before? Was she really ready to come out? I didn't know, and I doubt she knew either.

Thankfully Tina didn't do anything further than give us weird looks, and none of the others noticed us.

We made it through the bus ride in one piece. Now if we could just make it through Sectionals.

* * *

Well fuck.

They were doing all our numbers.

I wasn't sitting near Rachel, but I could tell she was probably having a panic attack. So when we went out for intermission, I discreetly took her hand and led her outside.

Once safely away from people, I turned on her. "Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

She was close to tears. "No. We worked so hard for this, and now it's all going to waste."

I pulled her into a hug. "Nonsense. We just have to come up with some new songs."

Rachel laughed into me. "Yeah. You say it like it's simple."

"It is. Let's go back in there, pick some songs, learn a couple dance moves, and kick some ass." I broke us apart so I could look in her eyes. All I saw was defeat.

"Nothing will be perfect," she mumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry, Rachel, but it wouldn't have been perfect even if they hadn't stolen our setlist."

"Then there's no point in trying," she muttered, walking away from me and back into the building. I was left to wonder where the hell my Rachel went; the strong, never-take-no-for-an-answer girl who I couldn't find anymore.

* * *

When Haverbrook started singing Don't Stop Believin', I got a text.

_**We need to do something.**_

I looked all the way down the row to Quinn, who looked determined. There was nothing we could do, so I ignored her text. Seconds later, I got another one.

_**What happened to MY Rachel Berry? The one who would have already chosen a new setlist by now and would be halfway through learning the choreography? Where's she?**_

I shot a glare at her. If Quinn was trying to piss me off, it was working.

_**What would Barbra do?**_

That was IT! I wasn't putting up with her shit anymore! It wouldn't be perfect, it probably wouldn't even be good, but it would be better than sitting there getting texts from Quinn. Halfway through the chorus, I stood up.

"Meeting in the greenroom in five minutes!" I shouted so the others could hear before storming off.

_**There she is. ;)**_

_You're dead when we get home._

* * *

Great. Our glorious hero, Finn, was back and taking all the credit for saving us. If anything, he came in and gave the orders before Rachel did. Sure, he brought a song with him, but if it wasn't for me, Rachel wouldn't have done anything but sulk before we performed. And we would all still be sitting in that auditorium listening to Haverbrook sing more songs if it wasn't for Rachel.

But I didn't dwell on it. There were more important things at hand, such as the fact that Finn was making love eyes at Rachel, and that Santana actually liked Glee, and that Jacob only came to Sectionals so he could try to get into Rachel's pants (it took everything I had to not go take out all my frustrations on him). Not to mention that I needed to focus on learning dance moves and a new song.

Then before we knew it, our hour was up and it was time to perform.

"And now, our final team, McKinley High's New Directions!"

I looked over to Rachel, who was positioned at the curtain. She would be going out first for her ballad. The scared, defeated girl I caught a glimpse of earlier was nowhere on this one. Well, she did look a bit scared, but Rachel was in her element, and nothing could stop her anymore.

She hadn't told us what she was singing, wanting it to be a surprise, but the second the music started I knew. I could feel a huge grin forming on my face because _of course_ Rachel would sing a song from Funny Girl.

When she started singing, my grin got even bigger, if that was possible, and I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing because holy shit could she sing. Why had she never sang this for me before, out of all the times we watched that damn movie?

Before she could even get halfway through the song, I knew we were going to win. It didn't matter if the rest of us went up there and messed everything up, we would win because Rachel Berry was the best singer in the world.

* * *

My pre-performance jitters were nothing to the ones I had afterwards as we all waited to hear the results. We had thrown everything together in an hour, which just wasn't good enough for my standards, so I was quite worried. Quinn could see this, and she led me out of the greenroom under the guise of going to the bathroom.

"You were perfect," she said when we were in the lobby away from the others.

"No I'm sure that I was flat on-"

"You were perfect," she insisted, kissing me.

"Mm, whatever you say," I grinned after we broke apart.

"No, you were more than perfect, you were better than Barbra," she stated.

I gaped at her. "I was most certainly not!"

"Yes you were," she replied with a smile. I opened my mouth to tell her all the ways in which I wasn't better than Barbra, but she stopped me with a kiss. "And no matter how much you protest that is my opinion and you can't change it."

"Fine."

"Who would've thought Rachel Berry would complain about a compliment?" Quinn asked in mock surprise. I playfully slapped her arm.

"Shut up. Let's go see if the results are in yet."

"Oh, I can tell you who won," she said with a smirk.

"Who?"

"Us."

"And how do you know that?"

"You sang that song better than Barbra Streisand and you expect us _not_ to win?"

I giggled. "You can stop with the compliments now, I know you're just trying to keep me from killing you when we go home."

"Is it working?"

I rolled my eyes before opening up the door to where the rest of our team was. "Maybe."

The second we got in, the others wanted to go see if we could listen in on the judges. Even though I voted against doing it, we did. We didn't exactly get much information.

So when we stood on the stage with the two other glee clubs, we had no idea what to expect. I was scared to death that we had lost from our unpreparedness. If we did lose, that was it. Glee Club would be over.

Thank goodness we won.

* * *

The bus ride home was, in many ways, much different than the ride to Sectionals. Everyone was excited, and no one sat still. Well, I did. I sat in the same seat Rachel and I had shared on the way there and listened to my ipod. Finn had driven there by himself and didn't want to drive home alone, and since Rachel was one of the only people he liked at the time, he made her go with him.

As much as I had wanted to yell at him and say that no, Rachel would not be riding back with him, I couldn't. She would be mad at me and he would be mad at me, so I just had to tough it out.

_**Sorry about this.**_

_You could've said no._

_**But I really want to win the bet.**_

OH MY GOD WERE WE REALLY STILL ON ABOUT THE DAMN BET? WAS SHE SERIOUSLY DOING THIS? I HAD SAID I WAS GOING TO ASK HER TO BE MY GIRLFRIEND AGAIN AND I WAS WAITING FOR THE PERFECT TIME AND SHE WAS STILL TRYING TO GET WITH FINN? NO.

_I don't want to do the bet anymore._

_**So I win? (:**_

_You want to wait an entire year before dating me again?_

Hell if I was playing fair with her. That damn bet. It caused me more trouble than anything.

_**It doesn't count if you date me.**_

_Quit making up rules._

_**So now it's YOU that doesn't want to date me.**_

_Never said that._

_**But you implied it.**_

_Whatever. Enjoy your night with Finn. I'll see you back at your house._

_**Quinn…**_

I wasn't answering her.

_**Quinn are you mad at me?**_

_No._

_**Good. …Can we talk about something else? Like what we're doing for my birthday? (:**_

_That's a surprise._

_**I don't like surprises.**_

_Oh well._

I wasn't really in the mood to flirt with her as she tried to pry some information about her birthday from me. So I put my phone down, turned my ipod up, and nestled into the seat to get a nap. Rachel would kill me for not texting back, but then again she was already scheduled to kill me later.

* * *

**Song: Trademark- Relient K**

**A/N: So there you have it! Sectionals is over with and everything is great now! At least for the next two chapters! Which brings me to when I'm going to be posting the next chapter. I'm taking the month of November off of OGAC. But I'm not giving up on writing for the month altogether (though my schoolwork would probably benefit greatly from this). Instead, I'll be working on two 25k faberry stories for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month. Write 50k in 30 days, in case you didn't know). So when I post the next OGAC chapter on December 1st (just two days before my birthday), I'll have written both Jacob's Maze and the untitled Grease faberry fic. They'll go up after I've had time to edit them, but OGAC will resume weekly updates.**

**Guess I'll see you guys on the other side of November. Fingers crossed that Ryan Murphy gives us the promised faberry heaven on Glee!**


	23. Must Have Done Something Right

_"If anyone could make me a better person, you could_

_all I gotta say is I must have done something good_

_you came along one day and you rearranged my life_

_all I gotta say is I must have done something right_

_I must have done something right."_

* * *

For once, I didn't wake up at 6am. Instead, I stayed in bed snuggled up with Quinn until she woke me up with a kiss.

"Good morning to you too," I said lazily with my eyes still closed.

"We're going to be late if you don't get up," she whispered in my ear.

"Can't we skip today?" I mumbled, burrowing my face into her shoulder.

"Not likely. It's your birthday." At this, the realization dawned on me. It was December 18th. My birthday. And Quinn had a surprise for me.

I jumped out of bed immediately, and she laughed, slowly untangling herself from the covers to join me. "If I had known it was going to be that easy to get you out of bed I would have done it half an hour ago."

"Hm, and why is that?" I asked, rummaging through my closet for the perfect outfit for our final day at school before the holiday break.

"Because your dads might have let you open up your presents if there wasn't danger of you being late," she explained, looking in her bags for some clothes.

"Your dresses are in my closet," I reminded her. We had finally gotten around to hanging up all her dresses yesterday so they wouldn't wrinkle. "And I can open presents in enough time not to make us late."

"But what about the big family breakfast your dads have planned?" she smirked, coming over to sift through the closet with me.

"Oh yeah," I had completely forgotten about that. Normally on my birthday, my dads would save the festivities for the evening, but Quinn had plans for then so they moved it up to a morning breakfast.

Quinn pulled out a dress and I scoffed at her choice. "Shouldn't you wear something a bit more festive?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know there was a dress code for your birthday."

"Not just my birthday, but this is the last day before the holidays. Maybe try to show some Christmas spirit?"

"Fine," she threw her hands in the air in resignation and collapsed back onto my bed. "It's your birthday, you pick. I'll probably regret this and end up wearing a reindeer sweater or something, but go for it."

I giggled and pulled out the exact sweater she had mentioned. "I think a reindeer sweater would be perfect for you. Though I won't make you endure the torture of wearing an argyle skirt along with it."

"That's a relief. I wouldn't want to get slushie all over your precious outfit," she quipped, picking up a pair of pants and heading to the bathroom. "By the way, if I'm wearing your holiday sweater, what will you be wearing?"

"My birthday suit!" I called out to Quinn through the closed bathroom door.

It flew open and Quinn stuck her head out, wide-eyed and toothbrush in her mouth. "Wait what?"

"I'm kidding!" I assured her, but she still looked concerned. "Hurry, I have to use the bathroom as well." She shook her head in amusement and shut the door.

Because I was feeling particularly rebellious that morning, what with finally being fifteen and all, I went through Quinn's dresses and found what I guess could be considered a Christmas one. It was in the Christmas colors at least. I didn't exactly celebrate Christmas, but it wasn't like she would have a Hanukkah-themed dress.

When she came out and saw me, her jaw dropped. "Rachel! This isn't fair! You get to be all sexy and I'm stuck dressing like…" I narrowed my eyes, daring her to say anything else. She sighed before coming over and placing a kiss on my nose. "You look beautiful. Happy birthday."

"Thank you," I beamed. "But I want a proper kiss."

"Not until you brush your teeth," she teased, and I stuck my tongue out at her before going into the bathroom to do just that.

It was going to be a great day.

* * *

I don't think I've ever been as nervous as I was in the hours preceding our date (well, besides when I proposed but that's not relevant to this story). There was so much that could go wrong, and every single scenario ran through my head during school that day.

Thankfully I wasn't slushied for wearing the lovely sweater that Rachel picked out for me. While mine didn't draw much attention to me, hers did. Fucking Finn Hudson couldn't keep his eyes off her, and he even asked her on a date. And she said yes! I was so close to beating his ass into the floor, but I knew that wasn't what Rachel wanted to see on her birthday, so I just paid a guy to go slushie him.

At last, the longest school day of my life came to an end. The wait had been agonizing, but I made it.

Rachel met me at my car after our final class so we could go home. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Will you tell me now what we're doing?" she questioned, getting in the car after I unlocked it.

As if I was ruining the surprise. "Not a chance," I replied, smirking at her. "Besides, it's not even time to go yet."

She pouted. "But it's my birthday. You're supposed to be nice and give me everything I want."

I contemplated this as we pulled out of the parking lot. "That may be how it is with your dads, but it's not with me."

"Quinn," she whined.

"You've waited this long, you can wait a couple more hours," I stated, not daring to look at her because if I did I knew I would cave.

She huffed and sat back in her seat with her arms crossed. "Why do you have to be so mean?"

"If I was mean, I wouldn't have worn this sweater today," I commented.

"But you did and you're adorable," she grinned, poking me in my side.

"Compliments will get you nowhere, Berry."

She shrugged. "It was worth a try. But I do think you are absolutely adorable. You should wear animal sweaters more often."

"Maybe some other time, but don't count on it." Never again. Sure they were comfortable, but I could feel people judging my sanity all day. How she put up with the looks and the constant fear of a slushie facial was beyond me.

"You mean you won't do this for my birthday next year?"

"Sure, but your birthday won't be on a school day next year." Thank goodness. I wouldn't be able to make it through another one of these days of waiting.

"That means you'll have an extra special surprise planned that will last all day, right?" she teased.

"How about we get through this year's before we start planning the next one?" I suggested as we pulled up at her house.

"May I at least ask as to what time I am supposed to be ready?"

She probably did need to know that. Besides, it's not like she could get anything from that. "Six. Be ready at six." I had allotted time for her to do her Hanukkah things with her dads before we left, seeing as we were in the middle of it.

She nodded, opening the front door to let us in. "And what should I wear?"

"A festive sweater. We can match," I grinned at her. "And you'll probably want to wear jeans, not one of your super short skirts, even though I love them."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Okay. And what are you going to do in the meantime? No homework to complete for three weeks."

"Gonna go nap in your bed. Feel free to join me."

"Oh I'm far too excited for that."

"Then make me some cookies."

She gaped at me. "Excuse me, but I do believe it's _my _birthday, not yours. You should be making me cookies."

I sighed. I had already baked a cake for her during school, but that was for later. "Do you want cookies?"

"No, I was kidding. Go take your nap. I'll just run through some songs on piano I've been thinking about for Regionals."

She was already planning for Regionals when we just got home from Sectionals a couple days ago. Damn. I chuckled. There was no stopping her. "Okay, have fun."

Then I climbed the stairs up to her room where I would try and fail to nap for two hours.

* * *

To tell the truth, I was too excited to even try to work on Regionals stuff. Instead, I went on a run to let off all my excess energy. If you can believe it, I was just as good at endurance running as Quinn was. She got hers from daily runs with the Cheerios while I got mine from morning elliptical workouts and evening jogs.

It was all too easy to lose myself in running, just like she did. Except I never did that. I would keep myself paced and my mind active by listening to high energy show tunes. So in a way, I wasn't really letting off any energy, but just wasting time.

After the Legally Blonde cast album, I figured it was time to get back. I needed a shower and ample time to get ready for my birthday date with Quinn. We weren't calling it a date, but I knew that's what it was.

Quinn was just waking up when I entered my room.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" I greeted her with a smile, going to kiss her on the cheek but she took me by the shoulders and held me at arms length.

"No, you're all sweaty," she mumbled. "Go shower then we'll talk."

I huffed and spun away from her, intent on looking in the closet for another sweater. "You keep avoiding my kisses, Quinn Fabray, and I might have to give them to someone else!"

"Like hell," I heard her mutter, and I giggled.

"Maybe Finn?" I suggested. All this got was a pillow thrown at my head. "Hey! Is this any way to treat the birthday girl?"

"The birthday girl may want to watch what she says before she gets a certain giant killed," Quinn replied, sitting up on the bed. "I'm already pissed at him."

"What? Why?" She arched an eyebrow at me. "What did he-" Then it hit me. The date. "Oh."

"I can't believe you said yes."

"I can't believe you're so upset about it," I retorted. "It's just a date! And if I go on it then I win, right?"

"No. You have to be his girlfriend to win, but that's not the point! I thought we weren't going to do this bet stuff anymore!"

If I was honest, I didn't want to do the bet anymore. I wanted to be with her, more than anything, but I couldn't just _give up_.

"Can we not worry about it now? Instead, can we focus on the date you're taking me on tonight?"

"Who said it was a date?"

"Me. Now I'm going to have a shower and you better be ready by the time I get out."

"Yes, your highness."

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"Still no."

"Now?"

"Rachel we're driving with woods on both sides of the road! How could we possibly be there!" I snapped. This had been going on for about half an hour. My nervousness had been replaced by frustration. I knew she was just trying to be cute, but it was getting to me. "Sorry."

She was silent for a minute, and I thought maybe, just maybe, we would make it there with some peace and quiet. Then-

"Will you tell me where we're going now?"

"Rach," I groaned. "Please. I love you and I want this to be a special night but please stop."

"This is why you shouldn't do surprises," she singsonged.

"I'll remember that next time," I stated. "But we should be there in about ten minutes. Hey I know, why don't we play a game?" If I had suggested that to anyone else, they probably would've laughed at me, but not Rachel.

Her eyes lit up. "What kind of game?"

"The quiet game?" I suggested, smirking at her. She punched me in the shoulder. "Ow! I was just kidding."

"You signed up for my excessive talking a year and a half ago," she reminded me.

"So I did. And I don't regret it one bit," I replied.

"Good, because you're stuck with me."

"For how long?"

"Forever."

"I can live with that." And I could. If I always had Rachel Berry in my life, it would be filled with happiness and the best smiles.

Unfortunately life doesn't always work the way we want it to. People change. But this wasn't on my mind at all on that night, and it wouldn't be for several more months.

"And we're here," I said, pulling into a large grass lot where several other cars were parked.

"Where exactly is- Oh my goodness Quinn!" The bright lights and rides of the fair had finally come into view.

I grinned. This was exactly the sort of reaction I had hoped for.

After I put the car in park, I turned to her. "Stay right there." She nodded, and I hopped out of the car and walked over to her door to open it for her. I offered her my hand to pull her up. "And yes, this is a date."

At this, she beamed. I shut her door and we were off, hand in hand, on a date at a small town fair.

* * *

"I changed my mind," I stated as we walked toward the entrance tent.

"About what?" she questioned, looking at me in confusion.

"I like surprises," I answered, squeezing her hand briefly to reassure her.

"Don't get too used to them. I haven't decided yet if it was worth all your pestering and my being nervous all day," she said.

"You were nervous?" I frowned. Quinn didn't need to have worried all day when we were taking midterms.

"Oh God, yes. I was so scared you wouldn't like this, even though I talked to your dads and they said you loved going to the fairs when you were little but that still-" I cut her off with a kiss.

"It's perfect," I whispered, her face still inches from mine before we left our bubble and started walking again. "Did my dads tell you why I haven't gone to a fair since I was ten?"

"No? Why?"

I pondered for a second, wondering how Quinn Fabray could be so perfect without even trying. "As fun as it was going with them, I wanted to go with someone else on a first date, because that's what all the girls did in the movies. So I decided to wait for that," I explained as Quinn paid for our tickets. "And in a way, this is our first date. Though I kind of imagined you'd be a boy."

She looked down. "Sorry to disappoint. I can go get Finn if you-"

I kissed her again to shut her up. "I don't want Finn. I want you. This is perfect and you're perfect. Can we not talk about him anymore?"

"Okay. Um, what do you want to do first?"

"Well the rides were always my favorite part, but can you even ride anything here, Quinn? After all, you're pregnant."

"I cleared it with my doctor. As long as I don't go on anything that jerks a lot, like a roller coaster, I should be fine," she assured me. "So I'll ask again, what do you want to do first?"

I looked around at the brightly lit rides and the colorful games. "Hm… How about that one?" I pointed out one entitled "The Zipper".

"Alright, let's go," she said, pulling me toward the one I had picked out at random. I only hoped it wasn't held together with duct tape like I remembered the rides from before. Spoiler: it was.

Thankfully we didn't die, though you would've thought we were about to from the way Quinn and I held on to each other. I could tell she had spotted the duct tape as well.

"That… That wasn't so bad," Quinn sighed with relief when the assistant, who was missing a few teeth, let us off. "Though their music choice is lacking." There was a country song, probably one of the latest hits, playing. That was standard for a fair.

I looked at her in disbelief. "Have you never been to a fair before?"

She shook her head. "Is it that obvious?"

"Why not?" I asked as we got in line for the next ride in the row, The Scrambler.

"My dad not only found them unsafe and unsanitary, but also a huge waste of money," she answered. "So after a while I stopped asking to go when it was in town."

"That's just sad," I commented. "But I'm glad I get to be here for your first one."

"Me too," she grinned. "I just hope it's not my last one because I don't think my dad was wrong on the unsafe and unsanitary part."

"That's the charm, though," I replied while climbing the rickety stairs to board the ride. "You never know if you'll make it out alive."

* * *

I would like to thank the internet for recommending I take motion sickness pills before going to the fair with Rachel. If I hadn't, I don't think I would've made it through three rides without puking.

After the first ride, Rachel seemed to gain a fearlessness that I could only envy. She enjoyed all the rides while I was left holding onto her with the death grip. I think she liked this the most though.

Rachel also had a resistance to nausea, which meant we could go on ride after ride after ride. Once again, thank you internet.

After three trips on Gee Whiz, which Rachel loved and I actually liked because it didn't spin quite as much as the others, we reached some of the better rides: the ferris wheel, the bumper cars, and the slide.

I sighed with relief when I saw the ferris wheel as the next in the line of rides. Rachel, however, didn't seem too happy about it.

"We can skip this one," she said after I tried and failed to direct us toward the line for it.

"What happened to 'ride ALL the rides'?" I questioned.

"Well this one's a baby one so we don't need to ride it." I saw through her lies though.

"Is the fearless Rachel Berry scared of the ferris wheel?" I asked, biting back a laugh.

She could tell. She huffed before letting go of my hand and storming off. That would work on a normal person, but I was used to her storm offs so I caught her quickly and wrapped her in a hug.

"Hey, it's fine. We're all scared of something. No need to be so defensive about it," I whispered into her ear as she buried her head into my shoulder.

"Can- can we just skip it?" she asked, looking up at me. There were tears forming in her eyes. Shit I had made her cry on her birthday.

"Sure. Race you to the slide?" I suggested, and she was off. There was no way I would catch up with her, but I tried my best for her sake.

"I won," she beamed when I reached the top of the slide. "And I'm going to win here too."

"In your dreams," I replied as I took the ratty carpet used to slide down on from the assistant.

On the count of three, we both took off down the slide. This time I won, and she pouted.

She didn't pout for long though because she got to knock the shit out of me on the bumper cars next. I left that ride with a severe case of whiplash and hopes that she hadn't done any damage to my baby.

With all the rides taken care of, we set off for the other half of the fair, which turned out to be a disaster.

Oh sure, it was all fine and dandy as I tried to win at the rigged games so Rachel could have a stuffed animal. I enjoyed this.

But then she spotted the bunnies.

* * *

"Quinn!"

"Oh fuck…"

"Language!"

"It's appropriate for what's going to happen now."

I ignored her and marched over to the game in the middle of the fair that I had not spotted previously. At first glance, it looked like a normal carny game; you had to throw a ring around the neck of one of the many plastic ducks in a kiddie pool. But the pool was in the middle of a pen, and all around the pen were live bunnies.

This couldn't be legal. They couldn't just offer a living creature as a prize to any drunk moron who could successfully maneuver a carny game. And to think of the ones that didn't get chosen, the poor treatment they probably had to endure.

"Excuse me," I said to the carny running the booth. He looked up from his seat amidst the bunnies and grinned at me. He was missing several teeth, and the ones he did have were either yellow or black. It was almost enough to scare me away, but the animals needed me.

"Care to try your luck at winning a rabbit? Ten rings for five dollars," he stated. "Win a pretty one for your girlfriend there?"

I looked over, and there was Quinn, fear etched across her face. Somehow she had made it over to me without my notice. She groaned at the man's words.

"Rach, can we just drop-"

"No, Lucy Quinn Fabray, we cannot just drop this. This is inhumane treatment of animals and I will not tolerate it." Her eyes widened when I used her full name. She never told it to me and she wasn't around the one time her mom let it slip during freshman year. I had been avoiding using it since I knew she would tell me when the time was right, but it just slipped out.

"How-how did you-?"

"Now listen here missy, these rabbits are treated just fine. They're like my kids, they are, and I treat 'em so," the carny said, standing up.

I felt my eyes narrow, and ignored Quinn, who was trying to pull me away, all the while muttering expletives under her breath. "So you just give your so-called kids away to any redneck who can toss a ring around a duck's neck?"

"Not just anyone can ring a duck," he replied. "Why don't you give it a try yourself? Have a free ring on me."

"You think just because you offer me a free game that I won't be reporting this?" I questioned.

"There ain't nothin' illegal about what I'm doing here, missy. Remember that. They give these here bunnies away in shops every day." He was starting to get angry, but then again so was I.

"People _buy _those, and not when drunk like the ones here usually are," I retorted.

"And I bought these. They're mine and if I choose to give them away to anyone who can win my game then I can."

"Fine then." I turned to Quinn. "Win all these bunnies for me."

"W-what?" she stuttered, shocked.

"You heard me. It's my birthday and you have to do what I say," I reminded her.

She sighed and pulled out some bills. "I'll take a game, and do we still get that free ring?"

"Sure thing, long as you can get her to shut up."

I scoffed at him, but Quinn just smirked and answered, "I can do that."

Unfortunately the game proved to be harder than it looked, just like most of the other games at the fair. Quinn was on her fourth game before she even got one.

"Only twelve more to go!" I cried as the ring stayed on the duck.

"Rach, I don't have anymore money," she admitted. "Besides, what would you do with thirteen bunnies?"

"Release them into the wild, of course."

"You can't release them into the wild after being bred in captivity," she explained. "So I'm sorry, but you'll have to make do with one and hope that another animal activist and her date come along to win them all later."

I sighed in frustration. "You're right."

"So which one you want?" asked the carny, who by this time looked quite amused.

"This is so unfair to them, but I guess this one." I picked up the smallest one, knowing it was less likely to survive the cruel life of the fair or whoever may happen to win it.

"Alright, you get her and a cage," he said, grabbing a cage from the side and handing it to Quinn. I gingerly put our newest family member into the cage so she wouldn't escape into the fair. "And since I'm generous and don't want my little girl to starve, I'll throw in some food."

"I-" Maybe he did care. "Thank you."

"Got a name in mind?" he asked, handing me a bag of food.

"Quinn?" I asked, looking at her.

"What? It's yours."

"No, it's _ours,_" I corrected. "So what should we name her?"

"Um, why not after a character from a musical?"

"Was there any possibility that it wouldn't be after one?" I teased, and she smiled at me. I could tell she was still a bit fearful after I used her full name.

"I know how much you love Funny Girl, but can we _please_ not name her Fanny?"

"Oh I agree. Fanny just isn't the name for her."

"Elphaba maybe?"

I grinned. "Elphaba it is."

* * *

She knew my name. My old name. How the hell did she know that?

It really freaked me out, but I couldn't ruin the evening. It was her birthday, and I didn't want us to get into an argument over Lucy. So I would carefully breach the subject if given the chance.

By the time the whole rabbit debacle was sorted out, both our stomachs were rumbling. I decided it was time for another surprise.

"Wait right here, okay?" I said, sitting her down at a picnic table. She stared at me questioningly, but didn't say anything. She trusted me, and this gave me such a lovely feeling inside as I ran back out to my car.

"Okay so we couldn't eat before we came because of the rides," I started as I walked back up to her. "And I knew we wouldn't be able to find any food for you here because, while I've never been to a fair, I doubt that there is anything vegan-friendly." I set the picnic basket down on the table. "Since you don't leave me alone for more than five minutes I couldn't make this like I wanted to, but your dads did."

My favorite smile lit up her face. "I can't believe how much thought you put into this."

"And it's not over yet." With two more surprises left, it was far from over.

"What more could you possibly have up your sleeve, Quinn Fabray?" she questioned as I fixed her a plate of her favorite pasta.

"You'll just have to wait and see." I said, sitting down next to her with my own plate.

We ate in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. And it's not like we were in absolute silence. There were still the sounds of the fair.

But I broke it because the more I was left to think, the more worried I became. "Rach, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." She smiled at me.

"How did you know my name is…" I couldn't say it. If I said it that was acknowledging her existence. "My full name."

Her smile faltered a bit and she fiddled with her food to stall. "One time, when I came to visit you because we were mad at each other over something trivial, your mom accidentally called you Lucy."

I nodded in understanding. Mom used to slip up all the time. Not anymore since I was kicked out of the house and didn't see her, but before. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself."

"It's fine, Quinn!" she quickly rushed out. "I know it's something you're insecure about and I figured you'd tell me when you felt comfortable."

No. She was the one person I trusted more than anything. I should've told her long ago. She already knew bits and pieces of it. "I'm going to tell you, but not tonight. I don't want to rain on your parade."

She grinned at my Funny Girl reference. "Whenever you feel ready."

* * *

After Quinn put the picnic basket back in the car, she took my hand and led me away from our table.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The tent," she replied simply.

"What's in the tent?" It was one of the only places left to visit. Well, besides the ferris wheel, but that wasn't happening.

"See, it's funny because they do different things in it every night. The first night they had the fair queen pageant, the second night was a battle of the bands, the third was a cheerleader competition, which was how I knew about this fair because Brittany has been talking about it for the past few weeks."

"So what's tonight?"

She stopped right at the tent entrance. I could hear music from inside. "You sure you're ready for this?"

The intense look she had on her face made me hesitate. "I don't know, am I?"

"Yes or no?"

It came down to whether I trusted Quinn, which I did. "Yes."

She opened the tent flap. "Welcome to karaoke night."

I gasped. "No!"

"You said you were ready now let's go!" she chuckled pulling me along.

How could I have found someone so perfect when I wasn't even looking? All I had wanted way back at Freshman Orientation was a friend. It didn't even have to be a real friend, just someone I could sit with at lunch and maybe have an occasional sleepover. And I got this perfect girl.

Well, okay so she wasn't perfect. She cared too much about other people's opinions and she was scared to death that they wouldn't like her for the real her. But in my eyes she was perfect, and I was the one who counted.

"Rachel Berry, would you do me the honor of singing a cheesy duet with me?" Quinn asked, bowing and offering her hand as if we were in an old movie. I giggled and nodded before taking her hand.

"Any idea what song you want to sing?" she questioned as we made our way to sign up.

"I always have a song prepared for an occasion such as this," I reminded her.

"Of course you do, which is why I'm going to pick," she smirked and I stopped in my tracks.

"What?"

"I'm picking the song."

"But it's my birthday."

"And you can pick the next one. I want to see how well Rachel Berry does when the pressure is on."

"Oh please, like there is any song that can trip me up."

"We'll see about that." Grinning, she let go of my hand and signed us up, hiding her song selection from me.

Now all that was left to do was wait for our turn.

* * *

She would know the song, I was sure of it. Just like I was sure that she would enjoy karaoke. I just had to psyche her out for the fun of it. I mean, it was from a musical, of course she would know it.

"I get the first verse, and you get the second, okay?" I said as our names were called and we went to take our turn on the stage. She nodded, actually looking nervous.

When the first notes hit, she gasped, realizing exactly what we were singing.

_I was cheated by you and I think you know when_

_So I made up my mind it must come to an end._

I sang to her and only her, because as fun as performing is, this was for her. This was our story.

_Look at me now, will I ever learn?_

_I don't know how but I suddenly lose control_

_There's a fire within my soul_

_Just one look and I can hear a bell ring_

_One more look and I forget everything, woah._

We came together on the chorus, and Rachel made me start dancing with her.

_Mamma mia, here I go again_

_My my, how can I resist you?_

_Mamma mia, does it show again?_

_My my, just how much I missed you_

_Yes, I've been brokenhearted_

_Blue since the day we parted_

_Why, why did I ever let you go?_

_Mamma mia, now I really know,_

_My my, I should not have let you go_

Rachel took over from me for the next verse.

_I was angry and sad when I knew we were through_

_I can't count all the times I have cried over you_

_Look at me now, will I ever learn?_

_I don't know how but I suddenly lose control_

_There's a fire within my soul_

_Just one look and I can hear a bell ring_

_One more look and I forget everything, woah._

We came back together for two more rounds of the chorus, and we were both so into it. I think even Rachel had forgotten about the audience as she sang and danced onstage with me. When we were together, no one else existed.

Before we knew what was happening, the song was fading out and being replaced by the cheers and applause from the people in the tent with us. Rachel beamed at me before taking a bow, grabbing my free hand afterwards to make me bow with her.

"And you said I wouldn't know the song," said Rachel as we descended from the stage.

"I was hoping that was the one musical you hadn't seen," I replied, kissing her on the cheek while we made our way out of the tent.

"Quinn Fabray, I'm appalled that you think there's a musical that I haven't seen!" she cried.

"Then how come out of all the times I've watched musicals with you, we've not once watched Mamma Mia?" I questioned.

"Because I don't like the movie adaptation of it."

"And would you judge me if I did?"

"Yes."

"I guess it's a good thing I don't like it that much either then," I chuckled. We were back in the middle of the fair by then. "By the way, I thought you wanted to pick out a song for us to sing?"

She shrugged. "Your song choice was adequate, so I don't feel the need to. Besides, I don't think the locals can take our constant barrage of flirting through song."

"It seemed to me like they really enjoyed it," I commented. "Especially the men."

"That's because-" But I never got to hear Rachel's reasoning behind it, because at that time someone shouted at us; someone familiar.

* * *

"Hey! Rachel! Quinn!" I felt Quinn freeze beside me. She looked torn between running and trying to hide in one of the game stalls. In the end she stayed rooted to the ground.

And everything had been going so well.

I slowly turned around to face our fate because one of us had to be the stronger one.

"H-hey Tina," I tried to remain my cheerful self, but it came out sounding false. Quinn remained with her back to her, probably thinking that she could put up the pretense that she was someone else. I could see her shaking though, and I wanted nothing more than to hold her and tell her it would be alright, but that would just make things worse.

"I saw you two sing together earlier. You were really good. I think you should duet in Glee sometime," she stated, completely ignoring the fact that Quinn and I were sworn enemies who shouldn't be singing Abba songs at a fair together.

"I- thanks? But I don't think we'll be doing anything like that in Glee anytime soon," I replied. Why wasn't she asking questions?

"Quinn? Are you okay?" she asked, looking worried when Quinn still hadn't turned around. At least she hadn't run off or started up the enemy act. Small blessings.

Quinn wasn't speaking though, so I had to talk for her. "She'll be fine. She just didn't expect to see anyone here that we know is all."

A light went on in Tina's mind. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm intruding on your date. Guess I just got a little excited about seeing people I knew when my younger cousins begged me to bring them and left me the second I paid for them to get in."

"What makes you think we're on a date?" I questioned. The fact that she had went there first confused me. Were we not convincing enough as enemies? Oh God, it was when we sang Keep Holding On, wasn't it? I knew I shouldn't have-

"Rachel please," she said. "The looks you give each other every day? The way you and Quinn always seem to disappear at the same time? Quinn sleeping on you during the bus ride to Sectionals? How Quinn almost fainted when she heard you sing Don't Rain on my Parade?" Wait I hadn't heard this story. "It's kind of obvious. Let's not forget that you wouldn't stop talking about her or looking for her when we went to her party at the beginning of the year."

I grabbed Quinn's hand before she could run off. She was planning to after hearing what Tina said; I just knew it. "You haven't told anyone else this, have you?"

"Of course not. That's your business. So I'm gonna leave now, but you should know that no one would care, especially the rest of Glee Club. Well, Finn might since you've both been playing with him for months, but the others won't. You've got my support." And with that, she was gone.

The second she left, I pulled Quinn into a hug. She immediately started sobbing into my shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered. "She's not gonna tell."

"Rachel, I wanted so bad for us to have a public relationship. I was really going to try because there was nothing left to lose; no parents to kick me out because I'm gay." She chuckled through her tears. "But I just… I can't. That scared me to death, and I don't know why, but I just know I don't want it to happen again."

"It's fine," I assured her. "You're not ready to come out. That's completely understandable." Though it hurt. Quinn had been so ready just last week, but here she was freezing up.

"But it's not! I'm supposed to be the brave one who protects you!" she cried, finally looking at me.

"Sometimes you have to take turns. It just so happens that it's mine right now," I stated, smiling at her. "I'll wait on you, Quinn, for whenever you're ready. I would have loved for it to have been tonight that way when we celebrate our anniversary I get double the presents," I joked, trying my best to get her to cheer up. "But it's fine. I love you and that's not going to change anytime soon."

"I love you too, Rach. So much." She sniffled, smiling wearily back. "Oh God, I'm ruining your birthday."

"No you're not," I promised.

"Yes I am," she sighed. "Why don't we go pick up Elphaba from the carny and then head home for your last surprise?"

"There's more?"

* * *

Neither of us really spoke on the way home. I was consumed with anger at myself. I had completely ruined the night, and what's more was that I was supposed to ask Rachel to be my girlfriend.

But of course I fucked up everything, because when has anything in my life gone right?

I had thought I was ready; I wanted to be ready. And even though it hadn't been a bad experience with Tina, it had shaken me. The thought of coming out now was just terrifying, but I couldn't ask Rachel to have a secret relationship with me again. She deserved so much more than that.

"Quinn, I just want you to know this has been the best night of my life," Rachel stated out of nowhere as we passed into the Lima city limits.

"Well that's good to hear," I commented.

"And I appreciate how hard you worked to make sure it was as great as it was," she replied. "And I know that after some of the things that happened that you wanted to run away or retreat into your shell, but I'm so thankful that you didn't."

I smiled at her. "It was hard, but I made it through. You're worth it." She really was.

"Sorry I pestered you so much about this beforehand."

"Don't apologize for being you. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to make it a surprise."

"Are you trying to nicely say that I'm _always_ annoying?" she narrowed her eyes.

"If that's what you want to take from that sentence then go for it. At least I'm not plainly stating it like the others in Glee Club."

"That's because you're perfect and they're not."

I burst out laughing at this statement. Me? Perfect? "I'm the opposite of perfect, Rach. I can't do anything right."

"What about tonight?"

"What about it?"

"It was perfect."

Yeah sure it was. I had two emotional breakdowns. "No, it wasn't."

"Excuse me, but I'm the one who gets to say whether it was or wasn't, and it was. Just like you."

I sighed. "Whatever you say."

"That's right. Whatever I say."

"Well, we're here," I said as we pulled into Rachel's driveway.

"Is the last surprise my birthday present?" she questioned, getting out of the car.

"About that. You actually don't get your present until New Year's. Sorry."

She pouted. "It better be extra special."

"Just like you," I teased.

We were about five steps in the door when the singing started. I joined in. _"Happy birthday to youuu, happy birthday to youuuu. Happy birthday deaaar Raaaaachel. Happy birthday to youuuu."_

Her dads walked around the corner with the cake I had made in the shape of a star. Fifteen lit candles graced the top of it.

"Blow out the candles," Hiram said after we had finished singing. "Before the wax melts on the beautiful cake Quinn baked."

She quickly did as he said, probably making a wish. I would have to remember to ask her later because right after she blew them out she turned on me.

"You made this?"

"Yes?"

"And it's vegan?"

I sighed. Were we really doing this again? "No of course not. I made the icing out of bacon so you couldn't have any cake."

"Watch it," she warned playfully. "Was this the last surprise?"

"Yes. Cake and Funny Girl for the millionth time." Even though I was thoroughly sick of Funny Girl by that time, it was her favorite movie and hell if I was going to deny her it on her birthday.

"We'll be joining you for the cake, but after that we're going to bed. It's a bit past my bedtime," said Leroy.

"Plus I know you two don't want to hang out with us," added Hiram. Rachel said she never told them about us, but I still had a feeling they knew. It worried me.

* * *

"Quinn?"

"Hm?" she mumbled, half asleep. We were cuddled up together in my bed, just over three-fourths of the way through with Funny Girl.

"It's past midnight."

"Does that mean I can go to sleep without you waking me up?"

I ignored that comment. "It's December 19th now."

"So you can read a calendar. That's a nice skill to have."

"You get really snarky when you're almost asleep, you know?"

"So I've been told."

I huffed. "Here I am, trying to have a sweet moment and you won't even give me the proper attention."

She groaned and sat up. "You have my full and undivided attention, and if you wake me up before noon tomorrow you won't get it again."

"I highly doubt that."

"You had something you were going to say?"

"Oh. Yes. It's past midnight which means it's no longer my birthday. I just… It was the most amazing time and I won't ever forget it, even if you didn't buy me a birthday present," I teased.

"Hey! I said you would get it later!"

"Anyway, thank you so much."

"You're quite welcome. Now before I go to sleep and leave you to watch the rest of this, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm, where have I heard this before?" I mused.

"Fine. What did you wish for when you blew out your candles? Assuming you made a wish."

"If I told you then it wouldn't come true, now would it?" Truth was, I didn't exactly want to tell her. If she knew I wished for her to overcome her fears, it might make her feel bad.

"You're impossible."

"So I've been told."

"Since you didn't answer that question, does that mean I can ask another one?"

"Go ahead?"

"Why are you scared of ferris wheels?"

I paused for a moment, debating whether to tell her. "You're going to think it's stupid."

"No I won't. Promise." I trusted her.

"Fine," I sighed. "When I was little I watched this movie with a ferris wheel, I don't remember the name anymore, but in it the ferris wheel stopped and tipped over. Then later that year when my fathers took me to the fair they convinced me that it was only a movie, that it wouldn't happen in real life. We got stuck at the top of the ferris wheel for two hours."

"Rach…" She pulled me into a hug, as if hugs were the cure to wipe away all my fears. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I tried to make you go on that ride, and I should've just listened to you."

"Quinn, you did so many wonderful things for me tonight that I didn't even remember that until you reminded me. So forget it."

"Rachel-"

"Quinn."

"Okay! Can I sleep now?"

"Wait a second." I kissed her tenderly and then grinned. "Now you can sleep."

"But now I'm not tired. You know your kisses wake me up," she whined.

"Well that's too bad. May I remind you that I officially only got one kiss on my birthday?"

She arched an eyebrow. "And I suppose you want me to make up for that now?"

"Definitely."

* * *

**Title song: Must Have Done Something Right- Relient K**

**Song used in story: Mamma Mia- ABBA**

**A/N: And I'm back! NaNoWriMo went well. I finished five days ahead of time and got two faberry short stories (one of which, Jacob's Maze, has its first chapter up right now on here) and a chapter of OGAC done in 30 days. It just about killed me. I'll be editing the two stories over the next month, so OGAC updates will switch to every other Saturday, with both a chapter of Jacob's Maze and (eventually) We Go Together to fill the weekend between OGAC updates. My school course load will lighten up tremendously after Christmas so we'll go back to once a week OGAC updates (or maybe even twice a week) then. **

**Hope this chapter was worth the wait. It and the next chapter, New Year's Eve 2, are both monstrous in size. They are also two of my favorite chapters because they're relatively angst-free!**


	24. Candlelight

_"She's almost brighter than the sun_

_seems to me to be unfair_

_when you consider everyone_

_who pales when they compare_

_when they compare."_

On the morning of the 31st of December, I was rudely awakened by a force of nature known as Rachel Berry with an air horn. I shot up in bed at the blast.

"Happy New Year's Eve!" Rachel cried with a huge smile on her face. I looked over at the clock; it was seven in the morning. Not only wasn't this a school day, but Rachel had decided just six hours ago that she wanted to watch My Fair Lady which is about three hours long and I was _not_ allowed to sleep through it since I had never seen it.

How she was functioning, I had no idea. But I sure as hell wasn't. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You don't celebrate New Year's Eve, especially not in the morning," I stated, trying to stay calm. It wasn't happening. "So pray tell me why it is you woke me up this early after just three hours of sleep?" She started to speak, but I wasn't done. "Not only did you wake me up, but you woke me up with an air horn instead of kisses."

"Well, I could give you kisses now…" she flirted coming toward me, but three hours of sleep didn't leave me in a very flirty mood.

"You have about five seconds to run for your life."

"Quinn-"

"Five…"

"You can't be seri-"

"Four…"

She seemed to get that I wasn't joking, and quickly ran from the room, leaving the air horn in her mad dash out. I debated whether I actually wanted to chase after her. I could just go back to sleep and be sure that she wouldn't disturb me. On the other hand, I could chase her down and catch her (because I would catch her even if I was seen running down the street in my pajamas) and maybe convince her to come back to bed and cuddle while I sleep a bit more. I decided to go with the latter.

Jumping up, I dashed out of the room and down the stairs which I had heard her jump down just seconds ago. When I reached the bottom, however, I was at a loss of where to go.

"Rachel," I called, drawing it out. "Come out come out wherever you are." I heard her squeal and then the sound of running footsteps. From this I could tell she was in the kitchen. Then I heard a door slam and I knew she had gone into the backyard.

"Shit," I muttered, passing into the kitchen. The Berry men were there at the table having coffee and reading the paper. "Morning," I said, unable to ignore being polite because of my upbringing.

"Good morning, Quinn," said Hiram. Leroy, however, didn't say anything. He just sunk behind his paper. Something was up.

"So. Which one of you provided Rachel with an air horn?" I questioned. Rachel could wait. The only way back inside was through the very door she went out. I had her trapped.

"Well it certainly wasn't me," Hiram replied, putting his section of the paper down and looking to his husband. "Leroy…"

"What?"

"Did you happen to pick up an air horn when you and Rachel went out to get the fireworks yesterday?"

"She might have slipped it past me when we were getting them," he said noncommittally, but Hiram and I could both see his guilt when he put the paper down.

"You sure you didn't suggest to Rachel that it would be an excellent way to get Quinn out of bed?"

"I simply told her about the time I got you out of bed like that on our first New Year's together. Happy?"

"Did you also tell her that I locked you out of our apartment for the day?"

"Not exactly."

I had heard enough. Besides, Rachel was probably freezing and I wasn't _that_ mad. "If you two will excuse me, I have to go chase her down now."

Rachel was in the hammock when I walked out. The moment she saw me, however, she fell out of it in shock before scrambling up.

"Quinn I'm sorry!" she shouted across the yard, but I continued advancing on her.

"You're going to be sorry," I replied, getting closer. When I was within an arm's length, she giggled and ran. I sighed and ran after her.

After a few minutes of cat and mouse, I pinned her against the fence. "Got you." I smirked.

"Avoid the nose, please," she cowered, squeezing her eyes shut, actually thinking I was going to hurt her. I scoffed at this. Did she not trust me at all?

So I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose to get her to open her eyes. "You're cold. And frankly, so am I. Let's go inside," I said, taking her hand and pulling her along.

"Quinn I-" she started to apologize again, but I stopped her.

"Save it. You're just going to have to make it up to me."

"How?"

"Well for starters, you can come get back in bed with me and we can sleep some more."

"I can do that."

* * *

"You sure you want to do this?"

"As Glee Club captain, I'm obligated to be here," I reminded her as we approached Noah's house.

"I'm pretty sure they would all understand if you didn't go," she replied. "Besides, neither of us are drinking."

"Is that really all there is to do at a party?" I questioned. I had never been invited to a party before this one.

"Yes."

"Oh. Well we're already here so let's just stay for an hour or so, make our presence known, and then we can go celebrate on our own," I said, going to open the door but Quinn stopped me. The music could already be heard. This was likely to damage my hearing and cause me to go deaf at an early age, but I had wanted to do this.

She sighed. "Whatever you say, just remember that you got us into this. I'm not going to be able to stay by your side in here." With that, she relinquished her grip on the door and opened it before I could respond. She went in and closed it before I could follow her, knowing that it wouldn't look well if we came in at the same time.

The weeks we'd spent together over Christmas break were wonderful (with the exception of the date I went on with Finn. That was a complete disaster I needed to block out from my mind), but they didn't deter from the fact that Quinn was scared once again. I thought that maybe it would change, though it obviously didn't. But that was fine. Quinn had a right to be scared. The treatment of gays in Lima was anything but nice. Plus she was brought up to think they were disgusting, sinful creatures. It was a miracle that she was even admitting it to herself at the moment.

But I'd have to ponder this another time, as the minute required to wait was up and I could join Quinn inside.

* * *

I should've tried harder to change Rachel's mind. She looked so uncomfortable and it hurt me to see her like that. I could just sit and talk to Brittany (and by extension, Santana) for a while, but she didn't really have a group to hang out with. No one in the glee club actually liked her that much besides me, so she was at a bit of a loss as to where to go.

Not to mention Puck kept offering her alcohol. We did not need a drunk Rachel Berry.

After watching her struggle for too long, I sent a quick text to Tina, who wasn't in the main room, asking if she would come talk to Rachel. Within a few minutes, she appeared in the living room and led Rachel outside where the bonfire was. She shot me a quick glance of worry, probably wondering why I wasn't the one helping her, but I was sure Rachel would fill her in on my insecurities if she asked.

With Rachel taken care of, I returned my attention to Brittany, who Santana was very carefully keeping her from getting too drunk.

"So how's Lord Tubbington?" I asked, knowing this was a subject Brittany could go on and on about for hours just like Rachel could with musicals.

"Still smoking, unfortunately. I think he's stealing San's cigars," she replied with a frown. "I'm trying to get them both to quit."

"If I quit smoking, then I wouldn't have my badass singing voice and the Hobbit would get even _more_ solos," she explained to Brittany in a way that told me they had discussed this quite a few times.

"But I still don't get why you share them with Lord Tubbington. He doesn't want any solos," Brittany muttered.

Santana sighed, and I decided to help her out. "So you really do care about Glee Club." Well, I wouldn't help her out much.

She immediately got defensive. "Like I said at Sectionals, it's the best part of my day. Plus it's really fun to see the look on Berry's face when I take away her solos. Can't wait to see the day I actually get a solo in a performance."

I really wanted to punch her for being an ass to Rachel, but I was also supposed to hate her so I couldn't really do or say anything. Luckily, Brittany spoke up.

"San, you shouldn't be so mean to Rachel," Brittany stated. "Just because in middle school she-"

Santana wasn't letting her get any further though. She immediately attacked Brittany's lips. I sighed, having witnessed this between them all too often. Brittany would start to let something slip out that she wasn't supposed to, and Santana would instantly put a stop to it. Then Santana would realize she was in a public setting and making out with a girl. This was when they would quickly end it, that is, unless they weren't in a public area. When that happened it usually led to sex and I learned after the first time that it was better to just walk home from the sleepover than stick around. Thank goodness we were at a party.

I counted to twenty, and as if on cue, Santana recoiled as if she'd been burned. She looked around to see if anyone had seen it besides me, and when satisfied that everyone in the room was preoccupied or too drunk to care, she relaxed. Brittany looked disappointed.

It was then that Tina walked by. Without my tiny Jewish teenager.

Before I could even think about the consequences, I shouted over the music, "Tina!"

She stopped and came over to us, looking extremely guilty. This couldn't be good.

"What'd you do with Rachel?" I questioned. Santana shot me a look, but I didn't take any notice of it. I had other things on my mind, like the safety of Rachel.

"Ah… Finn kind of showed up and wanted to talk to her alone," she admitted, not meeting my eyes. "Sorry." Tina walked off before I could say anything.

Anger immediately rushed into me. Fucking Finn Hudson, always ruining everything. First ruining my Christmas break by taking Rachel out on a "nice" date. That's what she had called it. "Nice". Then he was ruining New Year's Eve, a night that I loved because of Rachel and fireworks.

I was about to get up and storm out to the bonfire to tear Finn Hudson to shreds when I heard Santana. "What's it matter to you where the Hobbit is? And since when do you call her Rachel?" she questioned, suspicious. Shit.

* * *

Never again.

I learned after about ten minutes in Noah Puckerman's house that parties were not my thing. No one really wanted me around except for Noah, who was only trying to get me drunk, probably because he thought it would be funny.

Thankfully Tina came to my rescue and dragged me out to the bonfire where she, Artie, and Matt were.

"How'd you know to come save me?" I asked once were were settled down around the fire pit.

"Quinn," she replied simply. Warmth spread through me that had nothing to do with the fire. Quinn looked after me even when she wasn't supposed to. It was nice having someone like that.

She looked across to Artie and Matt, who were talking animatedly about something, before speaking to me. "So what's the deal with you and her?"

"I- we're not dating," I stated.

"You sure? Because that seemed a lot like a date when I saw you two at the fair."

"Well that was a date, but we're not dating," I explained. Though Tina was sort of my friend, I didn't know if I could trust her enough with Quinn and mine's secret.

She sighed. "Come on, Rachel. You can tell me what's going on. If I was going to tell anybody, then I would have by now. You can trust me."

"Oh alright," I huffed before filling her in on the story of my relationship with Quinn over the past year and a half. When I finished, she looked at me in shock.

"So you're telling me you not only took Quinn back after she was horrible to you, but you also put up with her dating Finn for half a year while stringing you along? You're insane."

"I prefer the term 'in love'," I replied, annoyed. "And sure, our tale isn't the perfect fairytale romance, but it's worth it."

"God I hope so. That's an awful lot for one person."

Before I could respond, however, a giant appeared from the shadows.

I screamed and clung to Tina.

"Rach, calm down, it's just me," said Finn, coming into the light. It was even worse, finding out it was him and not some giant come to terrorize us all.

"Oh. Hi Finn," I said, laughing lightly, trying my best to stay calm as he sat on my other side.

"Would you guys mind giving us a few minutes to talk?" he asked the other three. Matt nodded and got up, wheeling Artie off with him back into the house. I quickly turned to Tina, pleading with my eyes for her to stay. She shrugged and got up, obviously not catching on to my distress.

When they were all gone, he spoke. "Rachel, I had a really good time the other night."

"Oh…" I wouldn't really consider going to the movies to watch an extremely gory movie a 'good time'. "Yeah. Me too. When's the next one?"

He grinned dopily. "Actually there is another movie I wanted to see and since Puck and I aren't on, y'know, speaking terms anymore I thought you might wanna go?"

"That'd be…" A nightmare. "Great!" At this rate, I could win the bet before the end of January. It's not like I still cared about it, but it was something to do when Quinn reverted back to her old boy-chasing self at the end of break. She had already let slip that she planned on dating Puck. So if she got to date, then why shouldn't I?

Before he could go into a play by play description of the movie's trailer, my savior appeared. Though she didn't look happy at all.

* * *

"I…" My mind was blank. No excuse was coming to me. Rachel said I was great at improvising? Hell no.

Luckily Brittany saved me once again.

"You shouldn't call her names, San."

"I'll call her whatever the hell I want to."

"Not if you want cuddles when we go home."

"Why do you care so much about Be-" With a look from Brittany, she quickly stopped herself and mumbled, "Rachel."

"She's my friend. And she's yours and Q's too."

At this, Santana burst into laughter. "Yeah, like we're friends with the Hobbit." Then she realized her mistake. "Wait no I didn't mean-"

I saw an opening to escape, and I took it. Santana would be groveling for the rest of the night, and I didn't have to stick around for it. Instead, I would steal Rachel away from Finn while trying not to murder him, and then we would go shoot fireworks.

Though with each step I took toward the backyard, my anger grew. Who the fuck did he think he was? Rachel was _mine. _It didn't matter that I wasn't dating her, he should know to back off.

By the time I reached the two, my anger was at an all-time high. When the two saw me, both had scared expressions. I guess I probably looked a bit like a demon or something from the light of the fire.

"Excuse me, but Rachel is needed inside," I said coldly to Finn, just daring him to question me. I took her hand and pulled her along back toward the house.

Before I could get there, though, he spoke. "I think Rachel can make the decision as to whether she wants to go inside." I turned around to glare at him, and he cowered. "Sorry Rach, I tried. You're on your own."

"Thank you," she whispered as we made our way back inside.

"Ready to go?" I asked, not letting go of her hand. Screw the others, I wasn't letting someone else try to take her again.

She nodded, and so we slipped out the front door into the night to start part two of New Year's Eve: the fun part.

* * *

Protective Quinn was quite a change from scared Quinn. It wouldn't last long, so I reveled in it while I could, enjoying how tightly she held my hand as we hiked to our clearing from last year, even though there was a chance she was cutting off the circulation.

"So I've decided something about surprises," she stated as we reached the clearing.

"What's that?" I asked, setting my backpack down.

"They're much easier to execute if I don't tell you I have a surprise," she smiled.

"Is that why you brought the guitar?" I questioned, indicating the guitar case that she had on her back.

"You'll just have to find out. Let's set up the blanket." As I reached to open the bag, she hurried over and stopped me. "Let me do that."

"What are you hiding, Quinn?" I had packed the bag myself. A blanket, lantern, some hot chocolate, and the fireworks were all that was in there.

"Be good and I'll show you later. It just might be your overdue birthday present," she answered vaguely.

When we got settled on the blanket, we just stared up at the stars for a while. Being out there, you could see everything. Last year, Quinn had really liked this, but this time around she was antsy.

I wasn't going to push her though. She would tell me what was on her mind when she was good and ready, or not at all.

Finally, she sighed. "I'm just thinking about how everything's changed since we did this last year. I've messed up so much."

"You always concentrate on the bad, don't you?" She looked over to me in confusion. "Change isn't a bad thing. If we hadn't changed, we wouldn't know any of those lovely people we left an hour ago."

"Somehow I think I could live without knowing a few of them," she muttered, and I giggled.

"You're talking about Noah, but don't think of it as a bad thing. Find the good."

"Oh, like getting pregnant? Losing my spot on the Cheerios? Getting kicked out of my house?"

"No. How about the fact that if it hadn't happened you would still be with Finn? You would probably be with him right now at that party instead of with me here. You wouldn't be working on trying to face your fears, you would still be hiding behind them. And just think: we might have continued having fights which would've just ended in a severed friendship."

"Wait, you saw us getting into that serious of a fight?"

"Quinn, when you were with him, we fought quite a lot. Eventually it could've gotten to that point, yes."

"I'm sorry. I'm going to try not to become that person again. I want to be someone who you're proud to date." And she seemed sincere.

"I'm already proud of you. You're going places, Quinn Fabray, and I want to always be there. If you'll have me, that is."

She smiled at me. "I wouldn't be going anywhere without you."

I leaned over and kissed her. When we broke apart, I asked with a grin, "So do I get my surprise now?"

She groaned and rolled over away from me. "You will be the death of me."

"And here I was thinking I was getting the sweet, thoughtful Quinn tonight," I pouted.

She turned back to look at me, arching an eyebrow. "No surprises for you."

"Quinn!" I whined, but she looked determined, so I laid back down beside her.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again. "So. New Year's resolutions. Go."

I was ready, having been thinking of these since last week. "To pass you in class rank-"

"Not happening."

I ignored her comment and continued. "To win Regionals."

"Why not go big and just say Nationals?"

I rolled my eyes. "Quinn, please. The likelihood of us reaching Nationals, let alone winning in our first year as a club, is very slim."

"Regionals it is," she grumbled.

"And to spend as much of the year as I can with you."

"Well I don't think you'll have to worry about that one, seeing as I'm currently living at your house."

"You're really snarky tonight, you know that?" I commented. "I want sweet Quinn to come back."

"She's still here, buried beneath all the snark. Just be glad you're getting snark instead of the anger that it started out as."

"I am quite glad you didn't kill Finn tonight."

"But then I could've sang 'Cell Block Tango' from Chicago, and I know you would love that."

Quinn in that outfit… Mmm. "Yes, but still. I would prefer you singing it in my bedroom or Glee Club instead of in an actual cell."

"But it would be authentic."

"How about you tell me your resolutions now and we stop talking about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"Voldemort?"

"Finn." She flinched at the name. "But it works like Voldemort. Now Quinn: resolutions."

"Okay. I haven't actually thought about that, so ask me later," she replied.

I started to protest, needing to state how she was just avoiding the subject and would try to make me forget about it, but she put a finger to my lips.

"Shh. How about I reveal why I brought the guitar?"

* * *

It wasn't uncommon, Rachel singing for me, or us singing a duet together. It was, however, very rare for me to sing by myself to her. I had lots of insecurities, most of which Rachel knew about, but my singing voice she didn't.

So she had no idea how much I was freaking out internally as I tuned the guitar that she had taught me how to play over the summer. But I wanted to show her I was trying my best to be brave, to overcome my fears and insecurities.

"Okay so one of my favorite bands from the middle school days released a new album a few months ago, and there's a song on there that I really like and I think that they must've written it about you because… well… you'll see." I needed to stop rambling.

I took a deep breath and started strumming, praying that my voice wouldn't crack.

"_To know her is to love her_

_I'm going undercover_

_To catch a glimpse but not get caught._

_But to see her_

_Could be worse_

_If I don't get my head straight first_

_On second thought I guess I'll not._

_She's almost brighter than the Sun_

_Seems to me to be unfair_

_When you consider everyone_

_Who pales when they compare_

_When they compare._

_Can't hold a candle to her_

_Cause all the moths get in the way_

_And they'll begin to chew her_

_Entire attire until it frays_

_She outshines anyone_

_Who ever might dare to back in the same candlelight._

_Oh please don't seat us in the back_

_With all the insects and the trash_

_She is a lady, I'm a tramp._

_Collecting stares from pairs close by_

_Then flutters in a butterfly_

_You're just a moth drawn to the lamp._

_She's like an ancient artifact_

_Something you're lucky to have found_

_She'll pinch the nerves in all the necks_

_When she turns those heads around_

_Those heads around._

_Can't hold a candle to her_

_Cause all the moths get in the way_

_And they'll begin to chew her_

_Entire attire until it frays_

_She outshines anyone_

_Who ever might dare to back in the same candlelight_

_In the same candlelight."_

I finished and took a shaky breath as she started clapping, beaming at me. I had made it through the song without cracking or forgetting a verse or messing up the chords. The second I put down my guitar, she had me wrapped in a bear hug that almost knocked me to the ground.

"That was so perfect," she whispered in my ear, still not letting me go.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"I absolutely loved it. You should serenade me more often."

"Maybe I will." She let go of me at this, only to swoop back in and kiss me. If this was the reward for getting over my insecurities then I figured I could probably do it.

* * *

If only the world knew what a truly remarkable and sweet person Quinn Fabray was. Though I'll admit, I kind of liked having the goofball to myself. It was nice knowing that I was the only person she trusted enough to actually be herself around.

"I love you," I murmured when we finally broke apart.

"Well who wouldn't after that song?" she joked, to which I immediately hit her for.

"Take your snark somewhere else."

"I can't because without my snark I'm just a big ball of romantic mush," she protested.

"But I like romantic mush," I replied.

"But if I was like that all the time then it wouldn't be special. So sorry but I come with snark. Especially when you don't let me get enough sleep."

I groaned. "Fine." It really didn't matter to me, because I loved every side of Quinn, snark and all. "Is it present time now?"

"No. It's firework time."

While I was scared for most of the fireworks last year, this year I was determined to shoot just as many as Quinn, if not more. "Alright."

So for the next half hour or so, we took turns running back and forth to light the fireworks. There's just something that made trying to get back to Quinn before the firework blew up so much fun. Whatever it was, it had Quinn and I fighting over who got to shoot the final one.

"But you just shot one!" she cried when I went to take the final one over to our self-proclaimed launch pad.

"So did you," I retaliated.

"It's my turn."

"Please," I whined, putting on my best pout.

She huffed, crossing her arms and plopping herself back on the ground. "Go."

I giggled because she looked just like a little kid who got her favorite toy taken away from her.

A minute later, when I was fumbling with the lighter to launch the firework, I found out it was just an act. Quinn was there with her own lighter, having snuck up on me.

"Quinn don't you dare-!" I started, but it was too late. The fuse was lit and Quinn was pulling me along to get a safe distance from it.

The firework went off and we stared in awe as the beautiful colors lit up the night sky. They distracted me from punishing Quinn, but fireworks can only last so long.

When my thoughts came back, I started hitting her playfully. Well, maybe it wasn't completely playful. "Lucy-" Hit. "Quinn-" Another hit. "Fabray!"

"Ow!" she yelped sprinting away.

"Get back here!" I yelled, running after her.

"No way!"

I didn't have a chance of catching her, and she knew it. Even when pregnant, Quinn was still faster than me. So I did the one thing I knew would bring her back: I headed for the backpack to get my present that she was supposedly hiding in there.

"Rach, what are you- Rachel!" She was there before I could even reach the backpack. I whacked her one last good time.

"That was my firework."

"Technically it was mine since you shot the first one."

"Technically," I mocked. "You should've been nice and let the love of your life shoot it."

She just chuckled, shaking her head. "I love you, Rachel."

* * *

"Okay, I think you're ready for your present now," I said after we finished the hot chocolate.

She grinned. "Am I going to like it?"

"God I hope so. It took forever to make." I was about as nervous about it as I was about the song earlier. Rachel's present had taken months to make, but that was mostly because she never left me alone long enough to work on it.

"You made it? And here I was thinking that it was an engagement ring," she teased.

"And what makes you think I would be the one proposing?"

"You're the taller one and the older one, therefore you should be the one to propose."

I sighed. "Rach, we're a bit young to be getting married, don't you think?"

"Oh yes of course. I don't want to get married until I've had a starring role on Broadway."

"Good to know." I pocketed that information in my mind to use in a couple years. "But I'm definitely not proposing right now."

"An engagement ring would've been the perfect thing for you to get Finn to leave me alone, though."

"Oh there are other affordable ways to get him to leave you alone."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that and you can just give me my present."

"Okay." I took a steadying breath before pulling out the last object in the backpack.

I placed it in her lap. "Ooh. A book! If this is the Barbra Streisand biography then you should know I already have that."

"Didn't I just tell you I made it?" I reminded her. "Look inside."

She flipped open the book to the title page which I had designed yesterday. "'The Many Adventures of Quinn and Rachel' oh Quinn! You wrote a story about us?" Her face lit up.

I nodded. "It's our story, from the very beginning when we met at Freshman Orientation," I said when she turned to that page. "To tonight. Complete with shitty illustrations."

"They're not shitty!" she cried, landing on the painting I did of last year's New Year's Eve. "They're beautiful… It's beautiful. Quinn… Thank you."

"The best part is that it's not finished," I replied. "There are still tons of blank pages because our story isn't over yet."

"Hopefully it'll never be over," she whispered.

"Hopefully. Though I'll probably need another book then," I joked. "Over time, as we have more adventures, I'll add more to it."

"This is honestly the most amazing gift I've ever gotten… We'll be able to read this to our kids, Quinn," she said with tears of what I hoped were happiness in her eyes.

"You really think we'll make it that far?" I asked. I wasn't going to mention it, but that was the entire reason I'd written it in the format of a children's book.

"Oh I don't think; I know. That is, if you don't get tired of my annoying self."

"I could never get tired of you," I admitted. "But what about me? You're not going to get sick of my snark?"

She scoffed. "Without your snark, you just wouldn't be Quinn."

"I'll remind you of that next time you complain about it."

"That's okay. I'll just remind you when you complain about how annoying I am."

"Deal."

* * *

"Quinn, you never did tell me what your resolutions were," I stated after we had been cuddling in silence for a while, gazing at the stars.

She sighed. "I kind of hoped you'd forget in the excitement of the book and the song."

"But I didn't. So tell me."

"Fine. I want to survive sophomore year-"

"You will."

"-Without hurting you. I don't want to call you mean names or fight over boys anymore. I want to turn over a new leaf," she corrected. "Two: I want to finally pluck up the courage to come out and date you publicly, even if it's just to the glee club and your dads."

"Mm. That's a good one."

"Three: I want to make a few more friends. No one really likes me right now except for you and Brittany, and I want that to change. I'm tired of being a complete bitch."

"What about-"

"Santana tolerates me, and Tina only talks to me because she's friends with you."

"You know me so well."

"I do. Okay one last resolution: I want to get over my fears and sing a duet with you in Glee."

"I think you can accomplish all of those."

"And I think you can accomplish all of yours… Except the one where you pass me in class rank."

"Hey!"

* * *

At promptly six am, just an _hour _after we finally went to sleep, the fucking air horn went off.

I just about fell out of bed, and there she was, grinning at me like I'd won the lottery. I glared at her. "Rachel Barbra Berry! You will never make it to tomorrow, much less Broadway if I catch you!"

"But it's 2010! We have to celebrate!"

"I will celebrate by singing Cell Block Tango!"

And so started another happy (albeit exhausting) morning with Rachel Berry. It was one of the last truly happy ones I would have for a while.

* * *

**Song: Candlelight by Relient K**

**A/N: So there you have it. The last of the mainly fluffy chapters. Prepare for some angst as we return to following the episodes and Jesse shows up in the next chapter. Though you won't have to worry about that until the first Saturday of the new year.**

**In the meantime, I have lots more writing coming up. The first chapter of my Grease faberry story, We Go Together, comes out tomorrow. A couple chapters of that and Jacob's Maze will fill up the rest of December, along with a Christmas one-shot. I hope this Christmas one-shot makes up for the lack of a Christmas chapter in OGAC.**

**And to answer a question asked in the reviews, yes, this is written in retrospect. **


	25. Please Don't Go

_"Oh, please don't go_

_I want you so_

_I can't let go_

_for I lose control."_

**Centered around Hell-O.**_  
_

"I don't understand why you still do these."

"Because, Quinn, it's always been something for me to do with my time when you were at Cheerios practice," I replied to the girl sitting on my bed watching as I set up.

"Not only do I no longer have Cheerios practice, but now you're just taking time away from us doing things. We could be watching Funny Girl right now!" I rolled my eyes. Like she would willingly choose to watch Funny Girl one more time.

"Oh go do your homework and quit pestering me."

"_Me _pester _you?_" She chuckled. "That's real funny, Rach. And if you don't remember, you have the same amount of homework to do."

That was true. Both of us had put off doing all forms of homework in favor of spending time together over the holiday break. It wasn't very often that we could spend all day every day in each other's presence. Which left us with a book to read for English and a mountain of work to do for the other classes. I probably should've started on it instead of filming a video for MySpace, but I wasn't just admitting defeat to Quinn.

"I remember, but now that we've won Sectionals, people are going to be flocking to my MySpace to hear my voice. I've got to make sure they have something current. Now be quiet so I can sing."

"Winning Sectionals isn't going to improve the status of the glee club, Rachel."

"Wanna bet?"

"Um, no. I've learned that making bets with you is a dangerous thing."

"Is Quinn Fabray scared of a little bet?" I teased her.

"You know what, Rach? You're on. What are the terms?" she questioned, and I saw her determined side reappear in her eyes.

"If I win, you have appear in one of my MySpace videos and sing a duet with me." Something flashed over her face when I said this. Fear? But it was gone before I could confirm it.

"Okay. If I win, and I will, you have to stop making MySpace videos."

"Deal."

* * *

Victory was bittersweet.

I got a text mere minutes after being in the school on the first day back from Rachel.

_**I got slushied. You win. Congrats. Don't bother coming to clean me up as Kurt and Mercedes are with me.**_

I only read the first sentence before practically running to the bathroom. This wasn't how I had wanted to win.

"Rachel are you-" I stopped the second I realized she wasn't alone. Kurt and Mercedes looked over at me in confusion. I met Rachel's eyes in the mirror; they practically screamed at me to get out.

"I see you've managed to stay dry," commented Kurt before going back to trying to rid his clothes of slushie.

"What did you want with Rachel? Come to toss another slushie at her?"

"No I-" Think. Act. Do _something. _"I just wanted to see if she did her Chemistry homework," I finished lamely. Mercedes still seemed suspicious but she just shrugged and continued cleaning the slushie off her face.

"Of course, Quinn, give me one second and I'll show it to you. I have to go to my locker to get a change of clothes anyway," Rachel piped up, not looking at me.

"Take your time," I muttered, but she was experienced at slushie removal and was pretty much finished within seconds. Then she was leading the way out of the bathroom into the hallway.

"I thought I told you Kurt and Mercedes were in there?" she whispered as we made our way to her locker.

"Did you?" I questioned, pulling out my phone to reread the text I had only glanced at before. "Oh. So you did. Sorry."

"It's fine. It just shows you care about me," she replied, waving me off. "I won a bet, and now you did too."

I stopped in my tracks. "Wait. When did you win a bet? And which one?"

"I'm dating Finn now. That means I won," she answered, turning around to see why I stopped. I hurried to catch up to her and we resumed walking.

"Rach, that doesn't mean you won. Has he officially asked you to be his girlfriend yet?"

"Well no, but-"

"Doesn't matter. Until that happens, you haven't won." As much as I did not want her actually dating Finn, I sure wasn't letting her win the bet easily. Finn would be scared to get back into a relationship after what happened with me. At the moment he was just using Rachel as a bro replacement for Puck, taking her to action movies they would normally see.

"Fine. I'll make it happen. But you aren't allowed to get mad or jealous because _you _brought this on, Quinn Fabray. It could've been over now but you're prolonging it."

"You didn't win," I confirmed. "Nor will you."

"Just watch."

"Oh I will," I said as we reached her locker. "I'll see you in class. I've gotta go talk to Puck."

"About what?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

I ignored this and walked away, leaving her to get her clothes and go change before our first class. Puck was easy to find, hitting on the freshman Cheerios.

"We need to talk," I stated, pulling him away from the Cheerios. They glared at me and I glared back. Just because I was off the team didn't mean they were automatically better than me. Being freshmen, they should know their place was even lower than Rachel. Nobody liked freshmen, well, except for people like Puck.

"What's up, baby mama?" he questioned casually. Had I not been about to bargain with him, I would've hit him for the crude nickname.

"Here's the deal: if anyone asks, I'm living at your house and have been ever since Finn found out you were the father."

"And who are you actually sleeping with every night that you don't want everyone to know about?" I arched an eyebrow, but he went on. "Because if you're willing to admit you're staying with me, and everyone knows there is no staying with me without sex, then you must be fucking someone seriously unpopular."

"I'm not sleeping with anyone," I stated coldly. Well, not in the sense he meant it as. Rachel didn't want to have sex until after her first Tony or when she turned twenty-five, whichever came first. And I was wary of sex after doing it with _him _and having to live with all the consequences that came with it.

"Come on, Q. If I'm covering for you then I need a name. Is it a freshman? Is it a girl? Is it a freshman girl?"

"You're disgusting."

"I'm not covering unless I get a name." Hell if I was telling him about Rachel. It was already bad enough with Tina knowing.

"How about this: we can date."

"No can do. You'll just get pissed when I sleep around with other girls, which I will be doing."

"No I won't because it's not like our relationship will be real in any way. You'll just have the privilege of saying you're dating Quinn Fabray."

"Love you too, Q."

I huffed in impatience. The bell rang and I had just a couple more minutes to make it to class. Rachel would worry if I wasn't there. "So will you do it?"

"Yeah I guess. Long as you're not a bitch."

"Can't promise that."

"Just don't be one to me unless I deserve it."

"That I can do."

* * *

Quinn was with Puck. Guess that was her own way of complaining about the bet without words. I tried my best not to let it get to me, but I think it did. It was probably the cause of my crazy obsession with getting Finn to call me his girlfriend and trying to win the bet in the least amount of time possible. I didn't like having to share my Quinn after having a few weeks of just us.

So I went a bit overboard in my trying to win him over. Though every time I tried to talk to him, to get him to admit that we were in fact dating, he would stare off into the distance and when I turned around to see just what was so nice about the distance, there was Quinn. He was still in love with her. Of course.

While that was completely understandable as Quinn was hard to get over. What wasn't, however, was him flirting with Cheerios, particularly Brittany and Santana. When I cornered him about it, he denied it.

"What did they want?"

"Oh, nothing, just the time." He closed his locker and started walking away, but I hadn't come this far to lose the bet because Brittany and Santana took a sudden interest in Finn.

"I know being my boyfriend is a challenge. I'm not Quinn, I don't look like her. I'm not popular, and my personality, though exciting and full of surprises, isn't exactly low maintenance. But I'll always be honest with you, painfully so, and all I ask in return is that you're honest with me." And admit that we're dating.

And then suddenly he was breaking up with me. "I don't think I want to be your boyfriend."

"What?"

HA, QUINN. WE WERE TOTALLY DATING.

I had to play it cool, though. He couldn't know that internally I was extremely excited because I had just won the bet.

"Rachel, you're really awesome, but I think I need to connect with my inner rockstar before I can fully commit to one woman. I need to find out who I am now." More like, 'I'm still in love with Quinn and Cheerios are flirting with me so I don't need you anymore'. But who cared because I won the bet! I just had to make it through this scene.

So I did the thing I was best at and ranted. "I'll tell you who you are. You're a scared little boy. You're afraid of dating me because you think it might hurt your reputation, though which you'd never admit it, is very important to you. You hate what Quinn did to you, not just because it hurt, but because it was so humiliating." Quinn and I had just discussed this the other day so it was easy to come up with.

"You're freaking me out. It's like you're inside my head right now," he said quickly, trying to get a word in during my rant.

I started summoning the tears, thinking of sad things like dead puppies and Quinn leaving me forever, knowing tears would make it all the more realistic. "I just see you for who you are. Unlike you, who can only see me as this silly girl who made a fool out of herself in her first Glee Club rehearsal. And that's where you lose, Finn. Because if you take a second and you look at me, you'd realize that I'm the only person in your life who knows you and accepts you for who you are, no matter what."

I walked off, letting the tears finally come, knowing that my acting performance deserved a Tony for that scene.

I couldn't wait to tell Quinn, but first we had Glee.

And I knew just the song to sing to not only go along with the lesson, but to also finalize my act.

* * *

Well this was a new development.

Rachel wasn't sitting with Finn in Glee Club, so something must've happened. I couldn't very well just ask either of them at the moment, so I decided to wait it out and watch. It obviously had to do with Brittany and Santana flirting with Finn, but I had no idea as to why they would do that when one of the only topics we always agreed on was that Finn was a moron.

Then Rachel started singing 'Gives You Hell' and I got even more confused. But I didn't question it. Rachel bashing Finn was something I just wanted to purely enjoy at the moment and ask questions about later.

Rachel was happy. I was happy. Everyone except Finn was happy.

It was a good day.

As we headed home in my car that afternoon, I decided to finally ask about it.

"So. Gives You Hell. What was that about?" I questioned, smiling at her. She grinned back.

"Finn broke up with me."

"And yet you're so smiley."

"It just proves that we were, in fact, dating. Which means I won the bet," she announced proudly.

"What were his exact words?"

"Um, they were 'I don't think I want to be your boyfriend'."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Oh, Rachel. You were about one word off. Had he added 'anymore' to the end of that sentence then I wouldn't be able to deny the fact that he was your boyfriend. But no, he was just saying that while he liked hanging out with you, he didn't want to get into a relationship."

"But…" she sighed, sitting back in her seat, completely defeated.

"Sorry."

"Guess this means I just have to try harder, maybe come up with a new plan of action."

I groaned. She would never give up.

* * *

The next day I went to the public library after school. Originally I went to find a hello song that Mr Schuester would actually approve of, but instead I found my new plan of action.

When I met Jesse St. James, at first I was a bit starstruck. He was, after all, the lead vocalist in the top-ranked show choir, Vocal Adrenaline. In fact, it didn't even faze me when he critiqued my performance at Sectionals. But it did hit me when he said I was talented.

We strolled through the rows for a bit, him telling me his life story while I listened, taking everything in. _The_ Jesse St. James was talking to me, practically flirting with me. This was such a huge step up that I had no idea what to do. People didn't just flirt with me, especially not hot vocal leads.

He stopped talking, and I realized he had asked me a question. I nodded, hoping that was the right answer to whatever he had just said.

"What do you say we take her for a spin?" Jesse asked, glancing at the piano.

"Here?" I questioned. He wanted to sing with me? "Uh, no." But he was already sitting down on the piano bench. "I- I'm kind of nervous."

He sighed. "I remember when I used to get nervous. Come on. I do this all the time. I like to give impromptu concerts for the homeless. It's so important to give back."

Somehow, I was singing with Jesse St. James, lead of Vocal Adrenaline, and my plan for winning over Finn Hudson formed.

* * *

When Rachel said she was going to look for a hello song, I thought she would go to the music store or look through the archives in the choir room. So when we parted ways at the end of school that day, I had every intention of going to the library to start research on my history report and maybe picking up a new book to read.

I didn't expect to see her there, nor did I expect to see her there with a very attractive boy.

Jealousy boiled inside me as I secretly watched the two flirt, or at least I assumed they were flirting. It looked quite an awful lot like flirting from my standpoint. It just wasn't acceptable. I could barely even stand it when she flirted with Finn and I knew she was acting then, but this, this was new and real.

Then he started singing and the way she looked at him… She was only supposed to look at me like that. My anger began turning into sadness and fear. A part of me died inside as I watched them sing.

"They're really good," someone whispered, and I immediately spun my head over to see who managed to sneak up on me, panic shooting through me.

It didn't completely subside when I saw it was Brittany. "What are you doing here?"

"I come here every week to read in the children playhouse. Then I heard music," she replied simply. "Why is Rachel looking at that guy like that? I thought she liked you?"

"Wh-what?" I asked. Shit. How did she know?

"Rachel always looks at you like San looks at me."

"I- Brittany…" I had no idea what to do. She seemed so sure of herself.

"You know, for such an unpopular person, Rachel doesn't go very long without a guy," she stated. "You should move faster, Q, if you want her."

"I thought I had her," I muttered, feeling completely defeated because Brittany was right.

I did need to get a move on if I wanted Rachel to myself. She wasn't going to wait around forever, no matter what she promised.

* * *

Everything was quiet when I got home that afternoon. If I had actually thought about it, I would've known it was too quiet. Quinn usually took the opportunity to watch (read: nap through) a non-musical movie when I was out, and there was absolutely no sound coming from the living room. But like I said, I didn't notice. I was still debating how best to go about everything with Jesse.

Somehow I got up the stairs and into my room without really noticing where I was going. I didn't even notice Quinn until I fell back on my bed and I felt her steady breathing. I looked over to find her asleep mere inches away from me.

Without all her troubles weighing her down, Quinn looked so peaceful. It was almost like looking back at the Quinn I first met and fell in love with. As much as I wanted to just stay there and watch her sleep, or even curl up with her and sleep as well, she would kill me if I didn't wake her up in time to do her homework.

"Quinn dear, it's time to wake up," I whispered, shaking her gently. She smiled and muttered something unintelligible before rolling over away from me. And she wondered why I used the air horn.

"Quinn," I sighed, shaking her a little bit more.

"Five more minutes," she grumbled.

I thought back to what we had discussed a couple days ago. It wasn't for months, but it might work. "Quinn, you have to hurry! You're going to miss the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows Part 1!"

She shot out of bed as if it had burned her and rushed to my closet. "Where are my Ravenclaw robes? Oh gosh I still didn't order my Spectrespecs. How am I supposed to dress up as Luna if I don't have those?"

"Don't forget about the radish earrings," I reminded her helpfully from my place on the bed.

She looked over to me and I watched as it dawned on her that it wasn't November just yet. "That was just cruel, Rach."

I giggled. "Would you rather the air horn as a wake up call next time?"

"Actually, I probably would prefer that."

"I'll remember that."

She got lost in her thoughts for a few minutes, and I watched as she frowned, clearly thinking about something serious.

"What's on your mind?"

My words snapped her out of it. She glanced back at me and her frown deepened. "Mm. Nothing. Just thinking. How was your visit to the music store? Find a hello song?"

Something was wrong, but I wasn't going to push her. "Oh, it was good. I didn't find a hello song, exactly, but I did happen across the Next to Normal piano book which I bought since I know you only sat through my rewatch of the Tony Awards at the end of summer just for their performance, and because I found the cast recording on your ipod. Thought you might want to learn to play the songs and we could duet Perfect for You."

Quinn looked a bit taken aback at this at first, but then she resumed her guarded expression. "Rachel… I need to go."

"What?" This wasn't the expression of gratitude I had been expecting.

"Sorry. Running," she got out before grabbing her shoes and escaping.

Well that was a spectacular failure on my part.

* * *

Fuck.

"Quinn!" I heard Rachel call as I made my way down the stairs and to the front door, trying my best to pull on my shoes as I went. She didn't come after me though, even when I only jogged the first block.

After rushing home from the library an hour ago, I threw myself into a nap in hopes that I could just forget about everything. It worked for the first minute that I returned to consciousness, and then it all came flooding back.

Rachel was being extremely nice and thoughtful just like always.

But she lied about where she was going.

But she bought me the piano book to one of my favorite musicals.

But she flirted with some guy and then sang a duet with him.

I didn't know what to think, or how I was supposed to behave around her. So I did what I did best and ran. I wouldn't have to face my problems if I just ran until I collapsed. But I couldn't really do that anymore, seeing as I kind of needed to think about the other person inside of me.

So I ran to the nearby playground and hid in the tower. It was a cold, dreary afternoon which meant that there wasn't a single kid there that day. Otherwise there was no way I would've actually gotten into the giant wooden fortress without being attacked by children.

It only hit me that I had forgotten a jacket after I'd been sitting down for a couple minutes. The wind couldn't reach me from where I was, but that didn't take away from the fact that it was freezing. Which meant I had a choice: I could sit it out for a while and risk getting sick, or I could go back and face Rachel. It was clear that the former was the easiest.

As soon as I decided on the first choice, my cell phone rang. I answered without looking to see who it was because there was only one person who really called me.

Just because I answered, didn't mean I was going to speak. I still had no idea what to say to her.

"Quinn? Are you there?"

"Yes," I whispered, the words just barely coming out.

"Can you come home? Please? You didn't take a jacket and it's snowing now and I'm worried about you." It was snowing? I looked up to the sky, only to have snowflakes drift down into my face. Hm, so it was snowing. I hadn't noticed.

"I don't know," I admitted. My body wasn't intent on moving at the moment. It was perfectly happy, albeit cold, just where it was.

"Where are you? Can I come get you?" she questioned.

"Playground," I muttered, because even when I was confused about her actions and didn't really want to be around her, I still couldn't deny her anything.

"I'm on my way," she said before hanging up.

I let the phone drop from my ear and dangle in my hand, watching as snowflakes started landing on it. It was something to concentrate on instead of thinking, and I needed all the distraction I could get. One snowflake… Two snowflakes… Three… Four…

It didn't take long before I lost count. When I did, I wiped them off my phone, coming to my senses that I really did not need to ruin my phone. But then I was at a loss for something to stare at mindlessly which meant my thoughts began to gather.

Rachel liked someone else, and it wasn't for the act. I had missed my chance to be with her and would have to wait for God knows how long and endure the pain of seeing her with that guy. The worst part was she didn't even have the decency to tell me the truth, opting to buy me something from one of my favorite musicals instead. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair.

But then again it wasn't right or fair the way I treated her like some dirty little secret and couldn't date her publicly. As long as I let my insecurities get in the way, she was worth so much more than what I could give her at the moment. So who was I to be upset about her moving on?

That didn't mean it didn't hurt like a bitch.

"Quinn!" I heard a voice call out, knowing exactly who it belonged to. "Where are you?" I didn't answer. If she cared enough, she would find me.

I closed my eyes and waited, wondering if she would actually find me or give up and go home. When I heard a sigh of relief, I didn't open my eyes. When I felt my coat being thrown over me, I still didn't open my eyes.

"Oh, Quinn," she breathed in my ear, obviously having sat down right beside me. "You can't run and hide from the world forever."

"Yes I can," I murmured, even though I knew there was truth in what she was saying.

"But there's no reason to hide. It's just me here."

"That's a perfect reason."

I could sense the frown forming on her face. "What did I do?"

"You shouldn't have to ask, you should already know," I managed to open my eyes and glance her way before quickly closing them again. I couldn't take seeing sadness on her face and knowing I was the cause.

"Is it because I went through your ipod? Because last month you said-"

"No, it's not."

"Then what is it, Quinn? Tell me so I can make it right."

I sighed and opened my eyes once again. It was time to face the world. "Can we just go home?"

"No," she said in a firm tone which she had never used with me. I looked over in shock. "I'm tired of us pushing stuff away just because we don't want to fight. We did this all last semester and I'm not up for it again. You're going to tell me what's wrong and we're going to work through this. Then we can go back to how we were during break."

I wasn't ready to have this conversation, and she wasn't going to force it on me, so I stood up. "I'm going to stay at Brittany's tonight." I shrugged on my favorite coat she had brought for me. "Thanks for the jacket."

I climbed out of the tower and tried not to cry as I exited the playground and walked away from her.

* * *

When I finally made my way home from the playground, Quinn's car was gone. I hadn't actually expected her to leave. At least most of her stuff remained in my room so I knew she wasn't gone forever.

I slept fitfully that night. My body was so used to Quinn spooning me I guess it didn't know what to do. So when the morning came I was tired and irritable and worried.

It didn't help that Finn wanted to talk to me. I was so not in the mood to try to win the bet or put up an act. But the show must go on, which was why I had put up a picture of Jesse in my locker just in case Finn decided to stop by. Not even five minutes afterwards, he walked up, ready to start a relationship with me. Except I was irritable that morning which led me to the decision that it would be that much rewarding if I made him pine after me for a couple months like I had to do with him. He could watch as I dated Jesse, which I would.

Finn didn't have a very positive reaction. In fact, the entire Glee Club didn't react very well. They ordered me to break it off with Jesse because they thought he would use me to get info on the club. As if. If anyone was doing the using, it was me. Finn had told them, which meant that if Glee knew, Quinn knew and- shit I hadn't told Quinn about Jesse.

Quinn didn't show up at Glee that afternoon, nor was she at my house when I got home. It was seriously starting to worry me that I had done something that wasn't fixable. It couldn't be the Jesse thing, though, because she was mad at me before I told anyone about him.

I tried calling her, but her phone went straight to voicemail. She just didn't want to talk to me and there was nothing I could do.

The next day was a Friday, the day of my date with Jesse. I wasn't really looking forward to it as much as before, but I still wanted to go through with it. Being able to sing with someone after a dreadful week was a godsend.

Except first I had to endure Sue Sylvester trying to get me into the Old Maids Club. I knew at once that she had set it up with some ulterior motive as before that day there was no such club at McKinley or else I would've been in it for picture day. But I played along with it, figuring that it wouldn't be wise to get on Sue's bad side.

I skipped Glee that afternoon, not only because I didn't want to face the looks of loathing from my teammates, but also because I hoped to catch Quinn before she drove away. She apparently thought a couple steps ahead because when I reached her assigned parking spot, her car was nowhere to be found.

So I started the walk home. It was cold, but I made it. It gave me plenty of time to think, but mostly to hope that Quinn was waiting at home with cookies and a movie. Instead I was greeted with an empty house.

My date with Jesse was a breath of fresh air. It was nice to be able to just have fun, to forget all my troubles with Quinn and Glee, and sing show tunes with a cute boy. I could already tell that he would be good for me, not only in making Finn jealous, but he just might become a friend as well, and I needed more of those.

* * *

It hurt, cutting her out, but it was necessary. If she was going to tell Glee Club about her and what's his face, then it was obviously serious and I needed to move on. So I stayed with Brittany, and she would hold me when I woke up every night crying.

I could only last so long before I caved. Which is why I ended up sneaking into her house at 3am early Saturday morning when I woke up crying in Brittany's bed. She had spent the night with Santana, so no one had been there for me. I couldn't be strong anymore; I had to see her.

It was easy getting in. Rachel had a spare key made for me after the first week of staying with her, so I used that. I made my way upstairs to her room and quietly dropped my stuff on her floor. My coat and shoes were pulled off, joining my bag on the floor before I reclaimed my place in Rachel's bed and snuggled up next to her.

I fell asleep instantly.

* * *

I woke up Saturday morning with the feeling that everything was right in the world. It was only when I realized there was a body pressed up against mine and an arm draped protectively over my stomach that I knew why. I decided not to question it and just catch up on the sleep I had missed in the previous nights.

The second time I woke up, it was almost noon and Quinn was missing. I immediately sat up, worried that it had only been a dream.

"You okay?" a voice asked, and I looked over to find her doing homework on my floor.

I sighed in relief. "Yeah. You?"

"Besides the ridiculous amount of homework I have, I'm fine," she stated, but she was avoiding my eyes.

No, we weren't really okay, but we would be, over time. Hopefully.

That weekend, we were very formal with each other. We had never been this way, not even when we first met, so it was weird. When we watched a movie, she sat on the opposite side of the couch, getting as far from me as possible. The same thing happened when we slept. Gone was the cuddling, and I had no idea why.

And I sure wasn't asking because I didn't want her walking out again.

Monday rolled around, and she drove us to school in complete silence. We parted ways almost immediately.

I was met with looks of hate by my so-called friends from Glee everywhere I went. Which meant it was time to do something.

It was time to start another secret romance, but this time with Jesse. Looking back on it, I don't see the logic because it wasn't helping at all with winning Finn over, but I guess I was lonely with Glee hating me and Quinn hating me.

I needed someone, and Jesse was there.

* * *

**Song: Please Don't Go by Barcelona**

**A/N: There you have it. The arrival of Jesse! And Brittany knows! Everything is pretty much gonna go downhill from here until the end of sophomore year. You have been warned.**


	26. Carried Away

_"Listen, I'm your friend, don't quote me_  
_But not a friend worth noting_  
_Yes, please don't ever note me as your friend_  
_Who says we have cold hearts?_  
_Acting out our old parts_  
_Dance before my favorite little scene, oh oh oh oh"_

**Centered around The Power of Madonna. **_  
_

A week passed, and we were still the same.

We got up every morning and went about our routine. Rachel was on the elliptical at six while I had a shower. After my shower, she got in, and I did my makeup and got dressed for another day of learning at McKinley High. I was downstairs having breakfast with her dads before she left the bathroom. Her dads and I would exchange pleasantries, but just like with Rachel, I found myself unable to joke around or have a real conversation with them anymore. Rachel would arrive downstairs just as I finished eating, and I would read a chapter or two in my current novel while she ate. The two of us would then grab our things and I would drive us in silence to school. We would immediately go our separate ways only to be forcibly pushed back together by the fact that we shared all our classes. We exchanged pleasantries when necessary and compared homework answers, but that was about the length of our talking.

I could tell she was scared of me; scared of messing up again and having me walk out. So scared, in fact, that she settled for our silent, monotonous relationship.

It hurt that she didn't fight for me, but I knew it was for the best. I had to at least try to build my walls up that kept crumbling down every time she would leave the room to go talk to Jesse on the phone. She really said it was Tina, but I knew for a fact Tina didn't make her blush and giggle like an idiot. She was not only lying to the club about continuing to see Jesse, but she was lying to me and that meant something.

My suspicions were confirmed on a Friday when he showed up at the Berry house to take Rachel on a date. She had tried her hardest to get me out of the house earlier, from having Brittany call me to have a sleepover (no thank you. Friday nights were Santana's. I learned that lesson a long time ago) to trying to get me to go to Puck's party. I had just been wanting a quiet night in to read more of _Les Misèrables_ (Rachel got me it for Christmas and I had been working my way through it since then) or maybe watch the Doctor Who marathon on BBC America.

So she had gone for plan B and tried to get out of the house without me seeing him while I was upstairs in her room. That failed because the Berry men were very loud when giving a long talk to Jesse St James about how to treat their daughter on a date. My ears had perked up at the mention of "Jesse St James" and "date". I went to investigate and only made it to the top of the stairs landing before I froze.

There was that asshole from the library, looking all smug, talking to Rachel's dads. Rachel heard me though, and looked up to meet my eyes. Everything about her read guilty. I stared at her emotionlessly before turning around to go back to her room where I promptly broke down.

When I got control of my emotions, I packed an overnight bag. There was no way I was going to be able to be near her anytime soon, so I had to get out. The two were likely gone by then, but just in case, I sprinted to my car, making sure to look straight ahead toward my destination.

* * *

The hurt was only there for a millisecond, but it was enough. I had tried my best to protect her from this, but it wasn't enough. Quinn was hurting because of me.

I was supposed to be the strong one, her protector through all of this, but I had failed. Why I couldn't just come out and say, "Hey Quinn, I'm using Jesse to make Finn jealous and want me!" I didn't know.

Well, actually I did. Hidden in my mind, I knew she would retort, "Rach, first off you are in a _secret _relationship with him. Finn won't know. And second, Finn already wants you. Now you're just being an ass, playing around with two boys' emotions for the fun of it."

And the Quinn in my mind was right, in a way. I was just playing around with them, but it was her fault. She just _had_ to ignore me and act all emotionless all the time when I hadn't even done anything in the first place!

No, I couldn't blame this all on Quinn. But I could blame her for my not up to par acting performance on my date with Jesse, which ended with him making out with me on my bed (which really wasn't that bad, but definitely not up to the high standards Quinn had set) and then wanting to have sex which just wasn't okay. Quinn and I were together for a year and didn't have sex, yet he was wanting me to give it up after the first real date?

Besides, my heart just wasn't in it because I had noticed Quinn's car was no longer at the house and her Cheerios duffle was missing from my floor. At least she hadn't packed everything and left, which I was fully expecting after that look on her face.

The second Jesse was out the door, I sat down on the living room couch and tried calling her. And I kept calling too, fully determined to make her pick up to at least let me know she wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere. It was only when I heard the distant sounds of 'What is This Feeling' from _Wicked_, my ringtone on her phone, that I realized she had left her phone in my room.

That bitch.

Quinn Fabray was getting an earful about how unsafe it was to just drive off without telling anyone and leave her phone at home.

Wait. Could she have told my dads?

My fingers moved faster than my mind, and I was dialing daddy's number before I was even halfway through that thought.

"Hello?"

"Daddy, do you know where Quinn is? Did she talk to you before she left? I just came home and her car is missing and her phone is here and-"

"Rach, sweetie, calm down." I took a deep breath and waited for him to continue on and hopefully give me the news of Quinn's whereabouts. "I'm sorry but we don't know where Quinn is. We left for our date just around the same time as you. Do you want us to come home and we can go looking for her?"

"No, that's fine. You and dad enjoy your night. I'll handle it myself," I replied shakily, trying to gain control of my voice.

"Are you sure, sweetheart, because we can come back…"

"No, I can do this. I'll just call some of her friends and see if they know where she is." I hung up before they could protest anymore.

The first person I called was Brittany. This was a bad idea.

"Whoever you are, you better have a fucking good reason for calling," a voice who was clearly not Brittany growled. Thankfully my mind registered it as Santana before I spoke. I quickly hung up, knowing for a fact Quinn wasn't with them.

The only other person I could call was Tina. Any other glee clubbers would be suspicious as to why I was so frantic to know where Quinn was, so I could only hope Tina had some ideas.

When she picked up, all I could hear was music for the first minute. Then there was a door slamming and all the sound was gone.

"Okay I can talk now. Hi Rachel. What's up?"

"Are you at Puck's party?"

She sighed. "Yes. Artie wanted to go."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen Quinn there, would you?" I questioned hopefully. I know if I was upset I wouldn't go to a party, but this was Quinn.

"Yeah, actually. She came in looking really torn up and went to talk to Puck before going upstairs."

I could breathe again. She was with Puck. He would take care of her. He was her boyfriend, after all. He had to.

Right?

* * *

The next morning wasn't the best. I woke up between Puck and what I knew to be one of the many freshmen Cheerios. I didn't exactly remember getting into bed with either of them, but I hadn't had anything to drink the night before so I was pretty confident I didn't have sex with them. That still didn't explain why they were cuddled up to me.

Slowly, I extracted myself from the two, trying not to wake either of them up. When I was free of arms and legs, I crawled out of bed to go make coffee because I desperately needed some after crying myself to sleep.

People were passed out all over his living room, so I had to weave through bodies just to get to the kitchen. It was taking a lot of effort to get there, and I only hoped the coffee was glorious. It had to be glorious to be worth all the trouble.

Then to my luck, there wasn't any.

I almost broke down crying then and there. My emotions were so destroyed.

"Hey," Puck quietly said, bringing me into a hug from behind before the tears could start flowing.

"Let go," I muttered, trying to keep my voice in check. "I need to go get coffee."

"I could go for some of that. Some breakfast, too," he nodded, not even letting me deny his company. "Let's hit up the Waffle House on the highway, get you some bacon, and you can tell me why you're more moody than normal."

I shot a glare at him, but it was weak and wouldn't have scared a freshman. So I went upstairs to get my jacket and shoes, not even bothering with personal hygiene or changing clothes. Anybody who would care about my appearance was probably passed out on Puck's floor at the moment.

He didn't try to talk to me on the drive out, thankfully. He just turned the radio up, trying to replace the awkward silence with 80's rock music. It helped, but only a bit.

It wasn't until after we sat down in our booth and the waitress took our order that he started questioning me.

"So Q, what'd you do to piss your fuck buddy off so much you got kicked out?"

How dare he talk about Rachel like that. My glare was real this time, and powerful enough for him to raise his hands in surrender.

"Okay okay, touchy subject."

"The person I'm staying with is not a fuck buddy," I stated with finality. "Now tell me how I ended up between you and what's her name when I woke up this morning."

"Well you didn't have sex with us if that's what you're asking."

"Oh I knew that."

"But you did sleep through me and her having sex."

"That's nice to know."

"But you practically latched onto her in the middle of the night after screaming. She still knows you as the head bitch so she decided to stay and cuddle with you. My drunken self wasn't going to miss out on cuddle time with Q so I guess that's how I ended up cuddling with you as well."

I sighed. "Which cheerleader even was that? I never learned the younger ones' names."

"Um, I'm not really sure." Of course.

I sighed, putting my head in my hands as the events of before his party started to flood back into me.

"You okay?" he questioned.

"No."

"Well do you wanna talk about it? I'm not good at chick advice, but I can listen."

"No, I'm not sure I want my problems ending up on Jacob Ben Israel's blog."

"Hey, cut me a little slack. I haven't ratted you out yet about having a fu- friend you're staying with." He quickly corrected himself when my eyes narrowed.

"Still. You're getting something out of that."

"I would get something out of this too."

"And what is that?"

"The pride that comes with helping out the girl I love."

I sighed, knowing he wouldn't tell anyone because there was no way I would tell any of Rachel's secrets to the world. "There's this… person, that I like. Love, actually."

"Go on."

"And… we dated freshman year, but then I got all popular and lost sight of what was important and ended up dating Finn and fucking you."

He smiled. "I remember that part."

I rolled my eyes before continuing on. "But they still loved me, and I loved them. And for the longest time I've let my fear of losing my popularity get in the way of dating them again. I started getting better because they were helping me overcome my insecurities, but I guess they got tired of waiting. Now it's too late because they're happy with someone else."

"I think fears and stuff, they're a load of shit. You're Quinn fucking Fabray. People fear _you._ Date who you want and they'll get over it." Our food arrived just as he finished this sentence.

"But sh-they are happy with someone else now. Should I really ruin that happiness?"

He thought for a moment, chewing up the huge bite of biscuit he had taken before answering, "Yes. You deserve some happiness too, Q."

* * *

It was late Saturday afternoon when she came home. My dads were out grocery shopping, and I had been reading _Fahrenheit 451_ for English on the couch in the living room. Well, trying to read. My eyes just kept slipping closed and I couldn't help but think at the time that reading was so much better when Quinn read to me.

I was almost asleep when I heard the door close. Both of my fathers always announced their presence when coming into the house, so I sat up, knowing it was her before I saw her. She went wide-eyed when she saw me, obviously having hoped to get in undetected.

"I'm back," she said, dropping her keys in the bowl beside the door.

I was up and hitting her with my copy of _Fahrenheit 451_ before she could even leave the entryway. "Lucy-" whack. "Quinn-" whack. "Fabray-" whack. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"Sorry sorry, please stop hitting me," she cowered, and it was only then that I realized I had actually put some force behind it. It wasn't much, but still. I immediately stopped and settled for showing my anger at her by crossing my arms.

"I know we're not on the on the best of terms right now, Quinn, but what you did was stupid, not to mention dangerous. How was I supposed to know where you had gone to? My mind was immediately jumping to conclusions of a crashed car and you dead in a ditch somewhere!" I couldn't stay mad though, not when I was so happy to see her. Surprising probably both of us, I pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Rach…" she said when I hadn't let her go after a minute. I wasn't letting her loose anytime soon either. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

* * *

That girl!

Dammit I said I was sorry, why did she have glare at me and refuse to speak to me the entire weekend? She was making it so hard to try to win her back when she wouldn't even say anything, which pissed me off. I was trying my best and she wouldn't even give me a shot, all because I forgot to pick up my cell phone when I had an emotional breakdown. Well sorry if my phone wasn't my at the front of my mind.

I ended up retreating to the basement and working on a new part to _The Many Adventures of Rachel and Quinn_. If she wouldn't listen to me, maybe she would listen to the book. I wrote Jesse in as a villain bent on destroying my life. We're not even going to talk about how I drew him. The person who surpassed Finn on the "people I can't stand" list had to be a special villain. Finn was a giant in the book and Jesse… Like I said, we're not going to talk about that (Rachel doesn't like it when I'm mean to her friends, but that's neither here nor there).

After waiting ample time for the paint to dry, I trudged back up the stairs and dropped the book in Rachel's lap before going upstairs to start on the homework I had neglected all day in favor of working on the book.

I was halfway up the stairs when she said, "I'm not reading it."

I stopped. "What?"

"You're just trying to remind me of all our sweet moments so I won't be mad at you anymore. You don't get off the hook that easily."

I sighed before going back down the stairs and snatching the book away from her. "Fine. Don't look at the masterpieces I worked an entire day on."

"Quinn-" she tried, but I was moving quickly up to her room, intent on hiding it.

"Don't worry, I'll draw you a lovely picture tomorrow, Rach," I assured her sarcastically. "I'm sure you'll love it."

Which was how I ended up drawing a caricature of Rachel in the choir room. Even though I was trying to be a bitch, I couldn't help but doodle some hearts around it just to let her know that I still loved her. I knew she could see me drawing; I had been very careful about where I sat so she would see it.

"Can I ask you guys something private?" Shit. Had I gone too far? Would she really-

"Yes, you should move to Israel," Santana replied, instantly taking away my fears that Rachel was about to talk about our rocky relationship and replacing them with a grin.

"It's about dating." Fuck. My grin faded slightly as I looked up at her. "Not that I'm dating anyone," she said quickly. Lies. "We all know that Finn and I are no longer an item, and for the sake of the team, I broke up with Jesse. But let's just say I was dating someone.

"Let's just say, hypothetically, we went to a Wiggles concert last Friday night, and then because my dads weren't home, we went up to my room and started making out. It was erotic and romantic. And then he said…" I stopped listening there because I was seeing red. It was bad enough to know that she went on a date with him, but to flaunt it in my face? And then to bring to my attention that the last person whose lips had touched hers was not me but _him?_ She had gone too far.

"Would you please stop talking? You're grossing out my baby," I told her and got a quick glare from her letting me know that I just probably added on another day's worth of silence. Earlier I would've cared, but at the time I wasn't very happy with her and didn't mind the punishment if it meant I got to let out just a bit of my rage.

I managed to rein it back in until study hall, at which time I went behind the bleachers and yelled profanities at the wall for a solid hour. Whether the wall was supposed to be Rachel or Jesse or my parents or Finn or God, I couldn't tell you.

* * *

I was almost entirely sure that Quinn wouldn't perform 'Express Yourself' with me and the rest of the girls that afternoon in Glee Club, but for some reason, she was strangely calm and agreeing.

Though it was all an act. The one second she thought no one was looking, her face reverted to this hurt expression.

I knew I was just hurting her even more, letting her believe that this thing with Jesse was something other than a game, but I think a tiny part of me wanted possessive Quinn to come out and take me back. That the whole game with Jesse was just a way to force Quinn to fight him off and claim me as her own publicly. It was completely unreasonable, to give her the ultimatum of coming out of the closet or losing me, which was why I tried my best not to think about it.

To convince myself that dating Jesse was still about winning the bet, I decided to duet with Finn the next day. Before we could get started, though, he ended up asking me about Jesse. Perfect. I definitely had a valid excuse for dating him now, so Quinn wouldn't react badly when I finally told her about my plan, right?

* * *

Bacon.

That's what consumed my mind at 3:30am early Wednesday morning. I woke up on the far side of Rachel's bed craving bacon. If given the choice of world peace and bacon? It would definitely be bacon.

I groaned internally when I realized how long it had been since I had it last. Gosh, it was before Christmas break at least, if not further back because the Waffle House was out when I went with Puck. There was never any at Rachel's house because her father that actually wasn't a vegan didn't like bacon.

Fucking hell I needed some bacon. Stupid pregnancy cravings.

I mentally went through a list of places that served bacon that would likely be open. McDonald's came to mind first. They were open all the time, weren't they? Was this time of night considered breakfast by fast food places? If so, I could drive right out of Rachel's neighborhood to the McDonald's. It wasn't going to be quality bacon, but it would have to do.

After googling McDonald's breakfast times on my phone, I found out that it wouldn't be opening until 5am, and I couldn't wait that long.

There was always the Waffle House which was open 24 hours, but that was all the way out on the highway and there was no telling what kind of creeps would be there at this time of night.

The light from my phone must've woken Rachel up. "Turn it off," she whined.

"But I need bacon," I whined back. This wasn't the time for grudges; this was the time for bacon.

"Well it's not going to magically appear from your phone," she snapped.

"Rach, please. I have to have bacon."

"Not only as a vegan, but as a member of the Jewish-"

"Rachel!"

"Fine okay. Let's go," she sighed, getting out of bed.

I clapped happily and jumped up. It was probably a move reminiscent of Brittany, but I didn't really care. I was going to get bacon.

"Do you know where to go for bacon at this hour?" she asked, pulling a coat on.

"Not exactly," I admitted.

"Okay, we'll just go to Publix. They're open 24 hours, right?"

"I dunno."

Rachel drove us out of her neighborhood and into the empty town. Not much happened in Lima past midnight. Unfortunately this meant that most stores were closed, including the Publix.

"It's closed," stated Rachel as we pulled into the darkened parking lot.

"Can we break in?"

She shot me a glare but I just grinned at her and soon enough she was grinning back. "Maybe the Walmart?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're open all night." So we were off once again, headed all the way to the opposite end of town for bacon.

"Yessssss," I hissed when I saw the bright lights of Walmart, signaling that it indeed was open.

"Quinn are you okay?" she questioned as we got out of the car.

"Fantastic!" I cried, taking her hand and pulling her toward the entrance. "But I'll be even better once we get some bacon."

"Wouldn't you rather have something more vegan friendly? Maybe we can get some-"

"Bacon."

"Really, Quinn, it would be better if-"

"BACON."

She stopped for a second as we entered the store and stared at me as if trying to figure something out. "Are you a zombie that feasts on bacon instead of brains?"

"Baaaaaacon," I moaned, coming after her in true zombie fashion with my arms outstretched. She yelped and took off running toward the groceries. I followed after her. "Baaaaaacon."

"Oh no! I've lost Quinn to the infection!"

"Baaaaacon!" I laughed, still playing along as we made our way toward the meats section.

"Here!" Rachel cried, picking up a packet of bacon and holding it out in front of her at arm's length. "I found the cure!"

I took the packet from her and dropped the zombie act. "You saved me, Rach!" I wrapped her in a hug to let her know my gratitude.

"Glad to help," she giggled as we walked hand in hand to check out.

The guy who rung up my bacon wasn't very amused with mine and Rachel's antics. He scoffed at our acting and then gave us a dirty look when we paid entirely in change. But neither of us cared. The only thing that mattered at the time to me was bacon and Rachel.

The car ride home wasn't silent like the journey to Walmart. Rachel put in a Broadway musicals mix and we sang along to every song very loudly all the way back. We were tired and crazy and nobody in all of Oz, no wizard that there is or was, was ever gonna bring us down.

"I'm not cooking the bacon," Rachel said when I sat down at the bar and looked at her expectantly. "I refuse to take part in it."

"Please," I begged.

"I don't even know how, the best I can do is cookies," she replied, coming to sit beside me. "Now go. Your bacon, you're cooking."

I grumbled a few choice words as I grudgingly got up and and made bacon. And let me just tell you, it was worth all the trouble.

That bacon was heavenly, but there was something even better.

And that was falling asleep in Rachel's arms that night.

* * *

It was nice, waking up with Quinn snuggled up to me once more. It was almost as if the last week hadn't happened.

But then she woke up, and she sprang away from me like I had burned her.

"I… I'm just gonna get ready now." She looked incredibly flustered and also incredibly cute, which was a dilemma.

"Okay," I replied, unsure of exactly why she was acting so weird, but before I could ask, she was already slamming the door to my bathroom after having picked up some clothes off the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked from outside the bathroom door.

"Fine," she called, but I could tell. Being with someone for over a year, you get to know when there's something wrong.

"Quinn, what did I do?" I whispered, knowing she wasn't going to hear me. I slid down to sit against the door, not caring that I was going to be late for school if I didn't start getting ready. I curled around my legs and cried into my knees because everything last night had been perfect.

This is where she found me ten minutes later when she came out of the bathroom. I tried to hide my tears, but there was no way I could hide the fact that I was crying on the floor in front of the bathroom.

"Um, Rach?" she questioned. "You're kind of in the way."

I looked up, absolutely horrified, at her puzzled face. She wasn't even going to _ask_ what was wrong? She was going to treat me like I was just some obstacle? After our entire adventure last night? The sadness was gone and replaced with anger. I jumped up.

"No. You don't get to do this, Quinn! You don't get to choose when you want to love me and when you just want to treat me like shit. And I know you still love me even though we're fighting so don't deny it. We're not going to ignore last night because that happened! The fact that I am going to need two cups of coffee this morning to make up for the lack of sleep I'm feeling proves it wasn't just a fantasy I dreamt up."

She just stared at me the entire time I ranted. Her face flashed with pain for barely a second before her mask came back up. She forced a smile. "I'll be downstairs whenever you're ready to leave."

She was ignoring everything I said. "No! I'm not going to school today!"

"But you'll break your perfect attendance record," she stated, still wearing that fake smile she usually reserved for school.

"Um, in case you don't remember we have kind of driven that into the ground."

She paused for a moment, contemplating how she was going to ignore all the times we had skipped class. "I'm just going to be downstairs."

"Don't bother waiting for me. I'm going back to sleep. Maybe I'll wake up next to the nice Quinn."

"Okay…" She left then, and I'm pretty sure she didn't stop for breakfast and a chat with my dads before driving away.

To confirm my suspicions, I heard one or more of my dads coming up the stairs. I sighed. Were they finally going to confront me about Quinn and me fighting?

"Sweetheart?" Daddy said, knocking on the door before coming in with Dad. "Quinn just left. Is there a reason why you're sitting on the floor crying and not with her?" Huh. I hadn't realized I was back on the floor.

"I don't really want to talk about it," I mumbled.

He sighed. "I think you should. It's doesn't help to keep everything locked up."

"Not today. I'm just going to put on _Funny Girl_ and cry today. We can talk tomorrow."

Daddy looked like he wanted to say more, but Dad probably stopped him. I wouldn't know. I had buried my face in my knees again.

Suddenly, I was being picked up. I looked up to find myself in Dad's arms. He carried me and put me down in my bed before pulling the covers over me.

"Rest up, Princess, and then we'll talk," he whispered before going to put in _Funny Girl_.

Not even ten minutes after I had been pulled into the world of _Funny Girl_, I was abruptly pulled out by my phone going off. I didn't bother checking the ID, knowing only one person whose ringtone on my phone was 'Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love'.

"Hello?"

"Rachel."

"Oh hi," I sighed, not really wanting to deal with him at the time.

"Can you meet me at your school's library in, say, twenty minutes?"

"No?"

"Look, I know I messed up, just meet me there." Well, it would piss Quinn off if she found out.

"Okay, I'll meet you there, but not until this afternoon. I do have classes to attend, after all."

"You don't have someone to do that for you?" I rolled my eyes at this.

"No. I have to go. I'll see you then?"

Truth was, I could've met up with him then. It would've been all too easy to walk to the school. But I had a plan, and if everything went according to plan then I would get Quinn to talk to me again without having a massive craving for bacon.

So I settled back into_ Funny Girl_ and waited.

* * *

When I woke up that morning, everything was perfect. My stomach was still full of bacon, I was being held by Rachel, and I wasn't overly tired despite the lack of sleep from our adventure. Then my mind turned on and I realized that I shouldn't be in Rachel's arms, that it was only hurting me in the long run when she decided we were completely through.

So I acted like it never happened.

She wasn't very happy about this, and it felt like a knife was driven through my heart when I found her crying on the floor outside the bathroom. It was even worse being cold to her, but I couldn't just let her fully have my heart and then watch as she tore it to pieces like the other night with Jesse. Not that I really had a choice; she already had my heart and I had no clue as to how to go about getting it back.

I struggled all day, debating whether or not I should send her a simple text to see if she was okay. In the end I decided to just skip Glee and rush home to see her and apologize for being an ass. I was weak and needed her. Only I didn't see her at home; I saw her about halfway there, walking down the sidewalk.

I rolled my window down as I slowed beside her. "What are you doing?" She glanced over at me for a second before quickly turning back to face her destination. "Rachel." When she continued walking, I pulled my car over, putting it in park and getting out to stop her. "What is going on?"

She tried twice to get around me, but gave up with a huff. "Oh, now you're speaking to me?"

"When wasn't I speaking to you?" I questioned. I knew exactly when, and the look she gave me meant she knew that I knew as well.

"Let's not play this game, Quinn. Please get out of my way," she said before trying to get around me once again, but I quickly blocked her.

Guess it was time to actually talk. "Look, I know what I've done is stupid and immature and I-" When a car drove by, interrupting me, I realized that we were not only in public, but a few blocks from the school at dismissal time. "Can we move this discussion to your house, or at least my car?"

"I would love to, but I'm actually late for a clandestine meeting with Jesse. At least he doesn't ignore me," she stated coldly before slipping around me as I was frozen in defeat.

He had her, and I had nothing.

* * *

Okay, so maybe I had expected Quinn to put up more of a fight when I told her I was going to see Jesse. I definitely hadn't expected her to just stand there.

But that's what happened, and I had to continue on and act like I actually wanted to walk away from her. I just wanted her back.

Jesse was waiting for me in the library. I wasn't really up to this whole thing with him anymore, seeing as it wasn't working out as well as I'd hoped, so I was ready to break up with him.

"Since we're meeting in the shadows, there's something I wanted to talk to you about-" But he interrupted.

"Me first. I was out of line the other night. You deserve more than that. You deserve romance- no, you deserve _epic_ romance. I feel badly that I pressured you into… you know, going all the way. I'm willing to wait. You tell me when you're ready, and I'll make sure that I'm fastidiously groomed."

He apologized for trying to pressure me into having sex, which he really didn't because there was no way I was having sex with him, but it was nice that he cared about my feelings. With that, a new idea developed. A last ditch idea that if it didn't work, then I was done with him and I would explain everything to Quinn. Plus it's not like I could just break up with him after he was so kind and understanding, right?

"What did you want to tell me?"

"I-I'm ready," I admitted, forcing a smile.

What had I gotten myself into?

* * *

We didn't speak at all for the next couple of days. Not a single word was said between us, even though Rachel's dads tried their best to get us to have a conversation. Hell if I was speaking to her. It was hard enough being in the same bed with her every night.

When she did finally speak Friday afternoon, I wished she hadn't spoken at all because her words were like daggers.

She looked over at me as I was driving home from school and said, "You might not want to be at the house tonight."

My thoughts immediately were driven to the worst conclusions. "Why?"

"Jesse and I are going on a date and then afterwards I plan to have sex with him," she stated simply. As if there was anything simple about that. I slammed on the brakes in the middle of the (thankfully empty) street.

"W-what?"

"Was that really necessary?" she huffed angrily, rubbing her neck because it was very likely I had given her whiplash.

"I thought you were waiting until you had won your first Tony?" I asked shakily, feeling everything crashing down on me. We dated a year and never had sex, and yet this guy just waltzed in and they were going to fuck after less than a month of knowing each other?

"That's none of your business anymore," she replied shortly. "Now please continue driving or I'll get out of this car and walk the rest of the way."

My heart broke. She really didn't care about me anymore.

The second we stopped at her house, I stormed through the door and filled my Cheerios duffel with everything I would need before escaping to Puck's.

I had thought that I had hit rock bottom before when I found out I was pregnant, then again when kicked off the Cheerios, then again when kicked out of the house. There was absolutely no way for me to fall any further. I was at the bottom, and there had always been a cushion named Rachel to catch me. Then the cushion was ripped out from underneath me to reveal a never ending chasm.

* * *

"Are you ready?" No. No, Quinn hadn't come in to stop it yet. Where was she? What was taking her so long?

I had been stalling for half an hour in the bathroom, waiting for my Quinn to knock down the door and claim me as hers. Doubts were starting to seep in that this was doing nothing but hurting her more, that what I was doing was extremely wrong. Quinn would come out in her own time, and I should be able to wait.

But I shouldn't have to wait and watch her walk around with a guy on her arm.

"I'm ready."

But I wasn't. Which was why I couldn't bring myself to leave the bathroom. Quinn had to show up. She wouldn't let me go through with this.

After ten more minutes there was a knock on the door. My heart leapt, thinking she had finally come, but then Jesse spoke. "Just come out so we can talk… or sing about it."

I sighed, knowing it was time to face him and the fact that Quinn wasn't coming. Before opening the door, I quickly came up with a cover story for not being ready.

"Look, Jesse, I really like you but… I can't do it. It wouldn't be right for… the team." It was the best I could come up with on such short notice. Quinn probably could've done better.

"What does the team have to do with this?" Nothing. Everything.

"If I give myself to you knowing that my teammates wouldn't approve, it would be like I was sleeping with the enemy. I'd be betraying them." But most importantly Quinn. "And because I'm truly not ready to do this, I'd be betraying myself."

"I understand. I guess I should probably leave now, right?" he asked, and I nodded.

He left, and I spent my entire weekend alone in my room crying. Quinn didn't come back.

* * *

I stayed with Puck all weekend. Though I didn't really explain anything to him, he could tell that things didn't go according to plan. So he didn't question it when I asked him to hold me for the majority of the weekend as I cried. Rachel was gone. My best friend, the girl I loved, was gone.

Slowly, I built my walls up on Sunday. I would be my normal emotionless bitch self come Monday, except this time it wouldn't be acting. Though I wasn't strong enough yet to face Rachel so I avoided her like the plague in school.

Except I had to pee. Like really had to pee.

I thought going in the middle of English, the class she's the worst at, ironically, would keep her from confronting me. No such luck.

After I exited the stall, there she was, leaning against the sink, waiting on me. Her eyes met mine, and my walls got hit with a wrecking ball.

"Can I help you?" I asked in a false cheery voice. It took everything to make sure my voice didn't crack.

"I'm sorry," she said dropping her eyes to the floor.

"For what?" I questioned, going to wash my hands. If I just ignored her then she would go away, right?

"Hurting you."

"You didn't hurt me," I lied. She destroyed me.

"Yes, I did. And I'm sorry." She tried to touch my arm in comfort, but I recoiled.

"Is Jesse not enough for you? Why do you have to drag me back into this?"

"What?"

"You can't just replace me and then expect me to come crawling back!" And I was yelling.

"That's what this is about, Quinn? Really?" She was speaking calmly, but I could see the anger in her eyes. "_You _replaced _me_! Even though you said you were going to try to come to terms with yourself, the first thing you did upon coming back from winter break was to hook up with Puck!"

"I didn't hook up with Puck! We're not even really dating! You, on the other hand, are having sex with some random guy you met in the library after you promised you would wait for me!"

"I didn't have sex with Jesse!" she exclaimed. What.

"What?"

"I just said that to make you jealous! I've been using Jesse the entire time to win over Finn!" WHAT.

The anger was quickly draining from me. "So… you don't like Jesse?"

"Of course not!"

"And you're still in love with me?"

"Yes!"

"Just making sure," I said before pulling her into a kiss that would quickly escalate to a furious make out session.

We were preoccupied, not having kissed in a while, so neither of us heard the door open. "Um… I'll just go," muttered a girl.

My heart dropped to my stomach. I broke apart from Rachel to glare at who would come in the bathroom and dare interrupt our long-awaited kiss. It was a very uncomfortable looking Cheerio.

"Stop," I ordered, reverting back to my Head Cheerio attitude. She froze, hand on the door. Rachel wrapped her arms firmly around my torso, as if she expected she was going to have to hold me back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

I cut her off. "Name."

"G-Gabrielle Avery," she stuttered.

"Why don't I recognize you, Avery? I was Head Cheerio. I'm supposed to know all of you," I stated coldly, trying to mask my confusion.

"I um…" If possible, she looked as if she got even more uncomfortable.

"Spit it out!"

"Quinn…" Rachel warned. She wasn't used to the authority with which I talked to my Cheerios, or I guess they used to be my Cheerios.

"I was your replacement," she muttered, staring at her feet. Rachel's grip on me got tighter, which was just as well because I really felt like beating up the scared girl.

"I thought Becky was my replacement?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Um, well, Coach just moved me up from JV and made Becky sort of her personal assistant. She thought I showed talent."

"Make no mistake, Avery, if I wasn't being held back by Rachel, you would be pinned against the wall right now."

She looked up at me finally with a smirk. "So you make out with all your enemies in bathrooms?"

That was it. I could handle a scared little freshman Cheerio, but _this_. This wasn't acceptable. "Let me go, Rachel," I growled.

"No, Quinn, she didn't do anything," she refused.

"But she did," I spoke to Rachel, then turned to Gabrielle. "Listen up, Avery. You mention what happened here in the bathrooms to anyone, and I will personally make your life a living hell. I may not be Head Cheerio anymore, but I still have that power."

"Quinn, don't be so threatening, she's not going to tell anyone."

"You don't know that!"

"But I do. She's gay as well. She was checking me out when I ran the Freshman Orientation tour this year."

I froze. "And why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"Do you tell me when people check you out?" I stayed silent. "Didn't think so."

"Um, can I go now?" Gabrielle asked, the smirk having been wiped off her face at Rachel's information and replaced with discomfort once again.

"Yes," Rachel said at the same time as I said, "No."

"Stay away from Rachel," I warned her with a finality before motioning for her to leave.

She quickly slipped out the door, and I sighed, falling into Rachel's embrace.

"You shouldn't defend her," I murmured.

"Someone has to."

"Not you."

"You can't just automatically hate anyone who has a crush on me."

"Yes I can. That's a perfectly legitimate reason to hate someone. But she caught us kissing! She could tell the whole school and out us both!" I cried, trying to get her to understand the importance of this situation.

"She won't."

"Rachel, I'm not ready to come out."

"You won't have to because she's not going to tell anyone. I'll become her friend."

"No." I flat out refused. "You're not getting close to someone who has a crush on you."

She rolled her eyes at this, extracting herself from my arms. "Just try and stop me." And with that, she whirled around and stormed out.

* * *

After that, we were okay again. She would joke and cuddle with me. I was no longer subjected to false smiles and empty pleasantries. She did warn me against befriending Gabrielle Avery, but I didn't really see it happening since she was a Cheerio, even if she did like me.

Then we had a problem. I guess since I hadn't answered any of Jesse's calls since the sex disaster, he got a little worried about me. Truth was, I didn't really see a point in messing up everything I had just fixed with Quinn, but on Tuesday I had no choice.

He transferred to _my school_.

The second I saw him, I knew I wasn't going to be cuddled up with Quinn that night. She was going to retreat back into her shell because she was going to think I got him to transfer.

So I sent her a quick text, hoping to keep that from happening.

_Quinn, Jesse's here._

_**Shit. Make him go away.**_

She hadn't made it to the choir room yet, so she didn't know what was going on.

_I can't. He TRANSFERRED here. I swear I didn't tell him to, I haven't even talked to him since Friday, please believe me._

_**I do. And I'm on my way. I'm sitting by you in Glee today so he can't. Enemies be damned. **_

I sighed with relief, closing my phone. It was going to be okay.

Halfway through Jesse's speech to the glee club (but more specifically me) about why he had transferred, I heard Quinn mutter, "This guy just doesn't know when to give up."

I smiled at this because she was right. She was even further proved right when Finn and Jesse had a little face off in the hallway. Jesse referred to me as "a keeper", and Finn relinquished all ill feelings he may have had for Jesse by welcoming him to the team.

This was not in the plan.

* * *

**Song: Carried Away by Passion Pit**

**A/N: Sorry this is a week late. Last week when I woke up on Saturday to do a final edit, I was completely sick. So I spent my weekend recovering from that. But it's quite a large chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it.**

**It seems I'm finally getting back into the story. I finished the Theatricality chapter, which is very long as well, all over the course of this past week. I haven't written a chapter in a week since summer. So if this keeps up, maybe I'll go back to posting an OGAC chapter every Saturday instead of just every other Saturday. It's really weird though because normally I don't work this fast unless I get lots of positive reviews.**

**Anyway, let's talk about the chapter at hand. Jesse is causing a rift between them. It may seem fixed up by the end of this chapter, but I can guarantee it'll be back. **

**I had been waiting for so long to write the Bacon and Gabrielle Avery scenes, so I hope you liked them. They're definitely some of my favorites.**

**So gradually people have been finding out about Quinn and Rachel. At the moment we have Tina, Brittany, and Gabrielle Avery, but 3.5 more will find out about them before their sophomore year is over. Any guesses as to who? (And no, the .5 is not a reference to Artie.)**


	27. That Guy

_"So look at that girl, the way she looks at me_

_When she smiles she flashes her perfect teeth_

_When I saw her guy I just lost it_

_He doesn't love you, he just wants to see your tits."_

**Centered around Home.**_  
_

Truth be told, I was getting better at hiding my emotions from Rachel. That, or she just chose to ignore the fact that I was angry beyond belief at Jesse being at our school.

I knew it wasn't her fault, which was why I hadn't taken my frustrations out on her, but the least she could do was discourage him. Apparently that was too much to ask. When I had even hinted at wanting her to break up with him, she just started going on and on about the plan and the bet to the point where I had to stop her and say I understood. Which I didn't.

Finn already said he wanted Rachel. He was willing to _date_ Rachel after he found out she'd been seeing Jesse. So why string them both along further? The only excuse that made sense was she liked the attention. To which I responded by giving her undying amounts of attention with the hopes of her just dumping Jesse and going in for an easy victory with Finn before coming back to me. No such luck.

"Quinn?" Rachel interrupted my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"We're here."

My gaze unfocused and I was finally snapped out of my thoughts and back to reality. "So we are."

"Are you getting out?" she asked, shooting me a concerned glance.

"Yeah," I replied softly, turning off the car before getting out.

"You okay? You've seemed a bit… distant lately. And I know for sure I haven't done anything this time." She followed me up the drive after we collected our backpacks from the backseat.

"I'm fine," I lied. "Maybe a bit tired, but fine. Wanna come cuddle and take a nap with me upstairs?"

"I… I kind of have to get ready for my date with Jesse," she replied, avoiding looking me in the eyes.

Oh that's right. It was Friday. She usually left me to die on Fridays.

"Okay," I said, keeping my emotions in check before heading up the stairs.

"Quinn…" she called after me.

"No, no. Go have fun with Jesse," I said, continuing up the stairs, not looking back at her. "Here I was thinking we could have a nice Friday with each other since we just got over a big fight a couple days ago, but you go ahead."

"Lucy Quinn Fabray get back down here!" Shit. I was in trouble.

"Yes?" I asked, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're not going to pull this indifference act again. I've had enough of it. What happened to my Quinn who would let me know exactly how she felt? She wouldn't just let me go on a date with Jesse!"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Rach, it's your life. I'm not gonna tell you how to run it."

"But I want you to! I want you to take charge and tell me I'm not allowed to go out with Jesse! That I'm yours only!" she shouted, and I hoped that her dads weren't home early.

I shook my head, laughing humorlessly. "The last time I tried that, you started yelling at me about how you weren't mine and I had no right. So yeah, probably not going to try that again."

She huffed. "I'm canceling my date with Jesse."

"I didn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't have to."

"According to you, I should have."

"Ooh, snarky Quinn is back."

I rolled my eyes, biting back a grin. "I'm going to take a nap. Whether you join me or not is entirely up to you."

"A nap sounds lovely. Maybe some _Funny Girl_ to go along with it?" she suggested, following me up the stairs.

"No."

"Quinn-"

"We've watched _Funny Girl_ a million times. Pick something else."

"Fine," she groaned. "We can watch _Les Misèrables_."

"Not that either. I still haven't finished the book."

"Then you pick!"

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with something that she disliked as much as I disliked _Funny Girl_. "_Lord of the Rings_."

"Quinn no!"

"Yes."

"You know it scares me!"

"All the more reason for you to cuddle with me."

She sighed. "I guess that can work. It's not like I'll stay awake past the first fifteen minutes anyway."

She made it through the entire first movie while I fell asleep in the first fifteen minutes.

* * *

Quinn left me to be terrified of everything by myself. Why we couldn't have just watched_ Funny Girl_ if she was going to fall asleep, I didn't know. I survived, but barely.

When I was sure Quinn was asleep, I sent off a quick text to Jesse, telling him that something had come up and I would no longer be able to go on the date. He said it was fine, but then he rescheduled it to the next day which I knew Quinn wouldn't be happy with. It was only dinner at Breadstix, but it was an hour away from her, and even I wasn't happy. She was right; I should've scheduled off the entire weekend to spend with her after getting over our fight, but I guess I just wasn't thinking.

I was kind of preoccupied with how to salvage my plan. Finn gave up on me. This wasn't supposed to happen and it wasn't fair. He was supposed to chase after me and I would gain a valuable friend out of Jesse when we mutually ended our relationship before Regionals for the benefits of our teams. Then I would date Finn for about a month, or whatever Quinn deemed acceptable, and I would be single by summer. In this plan, Quinn and I were both single in the summer so we were able to spend all our time together like winter break without the interruption of having to go on a date with some boy. But it wasn't meant to be, I guess.

"You're pretty when you're hatching an evil plan," said Quinn, whom I hadn't realized was awake. I looked over and sure enough she was, grinning lazily at me.

"Are you saying I'm not pretty all the time?" I teased her.

"No. You're extremely beautiful every second of the day, even when you have bed hair, but there's just something great about watching you while your mind works."

"You're just saying that because you don't want me to go on my date with Jesse," I replied, hoping I wasn't blushing even though I could feel my cheeks heating up. "Either that, or you want cookies. Or possibly both."

"Or maybe I just want to compliment you every once in a while," she answered seriously, and I smiled at her. Knowing she had won, she quickly added, "But all that other stuff would be nice, too."

I took one of the stray pillows on my bed and hit her with it. She giggled. "You're not supposed to giggle at physical violence!"

"A pillow fight isn't really considered physical violence, Rach. Especially when you're the one hitting me with the pillow."

"Is that an insult to my upper body strength?" I questioned, poised to hit her with the pillow again.

"If that's how you want to take my comment," she shrugged.

I tossed the pillow at her, which she easily caught. "What happened to the compliments?"

"If I said them all the time then you'd get too used to them, and they wouldn't be special. Not to mention the fact that you'd have an even bigger head than you have now, if that's possible."

"As the Glee captain and female vocal lead, I am superior to the others and thus allowed to act like it. So I will take that as a compliment, Quinn, even though I know you didn't mean it that way."

She rolled her eyes at this. "Alright. But we're equals here, correct?"

"Yes?" I didn't know where she was going with this line of conversation.

"Which means you can't refuse helping me cook dinner for us right now."

"Can't we just order takeout?" I whined.

"No. I know you're going to move to New York City, capital of takeout, but you still need to learn to cook something besides baked goods."

"But that's what I'll have you there for, right?"

"Not funny."

* * *

Cooking with Rachel is one of my favorite things. Well, just being with Rachel is one of my favorite things. But cooking, where we both sing show tunes at the top of our lungs and she makes me get behind her _every time_ to show her how to cut something properly, it's just pure fun. Every time I cooked with her, I couldn't help but imagine us doing the same exact thing in ten years in an apartment in New York.

After dinner, Rachel suggested we fight. Well, not exactly fight, but she suggested we play Scrabble, which always ended with a fight and a paperback dictionary tossed at someone's head. She always insisted I made up words, and I probably did after reading _Infinite Jest_, but I wasn't just going to admit defeat. So it was mostly my own fault when I got the dictionary chucked at me for suggesting words she had never heard of, especially ones that got me lots of points. Rachel, having quite a wide vocabulary, just couldn't stand it when she was being beat at her own game.

So I was a bit hesitant to agree to Scrabble, instead suggesting that we just watch another movie or perhaps play a less violent game, like Jenga.

Her response?

"But it's been months since we've played Scrabble, Quinn!"

"There's a reason for that."

"It'll be fun!"

In the end, we played Scrabble. Spoiler: she threw a dictionary at me.

* * *

I didn't really know the best time to tell Quinn that I had a date with Jesse. Definitely not after Scrabble when she had narrowly avoided being hit by my pocket dictionary. I didn't really see it as an opportune time when we watched _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ afterwards at Quinn's request, either. I fell asleep on her during the movie, so there was no hope in getting it out of the way before Saturday.

Breakfast (or rather brunch, as we didn't get up for it until eleven) was no good. My fathers were there and I just knew Quinn would react badly when she found out.

We finally broke out the _Next to Normal_ piano book after that, and I couldn't bring myself to be the one to remove her beaming smile as we ran through the book, singing each song together while she played piano.

Following piano, we cuddled up on the couch and took turns reading our latest English assignment, _Fahrenheit 451_, out loud. I had tried my best to read myself it a couple weeks back, but without Quinn it was hopeless. So we started over, making our way through the book. We didn't have to finish it that day, seeing as it wasn't due until Friday, so we took our time.

About an hour before the date, I decided it was time to go upstairs and get ready. That's when I realized I hadn't told Quinn yet.

"Um, I'm gonna go get a shower, okay?" I said, untangling myself from her when we reached the end of a chapter.

"Okay. I'm just gonna get in a couple chapters of _Les Mis_ before your dads get back with our dinner." They knew about my date. They were picking up food for them and Quinn.

I didn't tell her. I just couldn't handle that look of sadness on her face again.

So it surprised me when I came back downstairs to wait by the door for Jesse that he was sitting on the couch beside Quinn, who was still reading _Les Misèrables_ as if Jesse being in the house was a normal occurrence.

* * *

When the doorbell rang, I just thought it was Rachel's dads and their arms were so full that they couldn't open the door. Instead I was greeted with Jesse St. James.

"Ah, Ms Fabray if I remember correctly?" he said before sliding past me through the door. "I don't think we ever formerly met. I'm Jesse St James."

"I know who you are," I grumbled, following him back to the living room. Who exactly did he think he was, just barging into Rachel's house?

"Of course, who doesn't," he replied, settling himself on the couch which I had previously been residing on. I cautiously sat down beside him, hoping my emotions were in check. He noticed the book in between us and picked it up to examine it. "Are you reading _Les Misèrables_?"

"Yes," I answered through clenched teeth. Why was he here? Why hadn't Rachel mentioned him coming around?

"I was Gavroche in the national tour of _Les Mis_."

"How nice for you."

"Yes, but those days are behind me," he sighed, looking off into the distance, probably reminiscing. "Is Rachel still getting ready?"

"Ready for what, exactly?" I asked. Oh no she did not. She wouldn't. Rachel Barbra Berry-

"Her date with me. Didn't she tell you?"

"No. She surely didn't." I was going to kill her for putting me into this awkward conversation. Then it got worse with a couple words.

"You like her, don't you." It wasn't a question. I froze.

"She's my friend." It was the first time I admitted it to anyone, and it felt good. It was a start to slowly breaking down the barriers our acting had made.

"No, she's more than that. You're in love with her." Apparently I hadn't kept my emotions as in check as I thought I had.

"I-" Fucking hell. I didn't sign up for this. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me, Quinn Fabray. We both know you're brilliant. Your defensiveness during this entire conversation just validates my prediction, though. I've seen the way you look at her in Glee when you think no one is watching," he stated with a smirk. "You're completely in love with Rachel Berry."

I felt like punching the smirk off his pretty little face. "Maybe I am. What does it matter?"

"Oh it matters all the world because, you see, Rachel is mine. She loves me, not you, and nothing is going to change that." He had touched on one of my insecurities, and I almost lost control, but then Rachel came to mind. Every moment that we'd had over the past year and a half replayed in my head, and I was reminded that she loved me, that just the day before she stated she was mine, that I had woken up that morning with her clinging to me like always.

It was my turn to smirk before bringing out my head bitch persona that I used to scare the shit out of people. "Believe what you want, St James, but you listen to me: if you hurt Rachel, it's not her fathers you'll have to worry about. It's me. Because, you see, I was trained under Sue Sylvester. I know how to do things and get away with them. So I suggest you tread lightly on this situation you've gotten yourself into." When I was finished, I took my book back from him and returned to reading.

"You don't scare me," he whispered, and I couldn't help but laugh at this.

"You obviously don't know me."

We didn't speak again until Rachel came bounding down the stairs. She paused on the last step, looking very much like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh, Jesse. You're here early."

"One must always be punctual," he remarked, standing up. I shot Rachel a glare while he wasn't looking. "You look lovely. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let me just talk to Quinn real quick." She hurried over to where I was.

"I'll be in the car."

When he was gone, I turned to her. "You're in a world of shit when you get home."

"It's just dinner. I couldn't get out of it. I'll be gone an hour, maybe less."

"I wouldn't have minded that, but you didn't tell me and that's not okay. Do you know how awkward it was, talking to him?"

"You're an actress, I'm sure you can handle it," she scoffed. "Now I'm gonna go before he gets impatient."

"I may or may not be here when you get back," I warned, but it was a weak threat and she knew it.

"I'm sure. When I come back we'll bake cookies and watch a movie of your choice."

"Is this bribery?" I smirked, finally feeling better. She didn't want to go, which meant I was winning in the war against Jesse.

She kissed me. "Maybe."

"And I'm strangely okay with that."

* * *

"You seem distracted tonight."

I looked up from staring at my glass of water, contemplating if Quinn was going to be angry or flirty or some other emotion when I got home, to find Jesse watching me with the look of amusement that it seemed was permanently etched across his face.

"Oh, just worried about Quinn. She hates being left alone with my dads," I lied, laughing it off. In reality, Quinn was perfectly okay with being left at the house with my fathers for long amounts of time. She did live there, after all.

He frowned. "Why is she at your house anyway?"

"We usually spend our Saturdays together and have a movie marathon, pillow fights, you know, girl stuff." I actually had no idea what girls did on sleepovers, having never had one except with Quinn.

"Mm, and she just agreed to having your girl night cut into with me?" he asked, smirking.

"Not exactly." He knew something. I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he knew something that I didn't. "But she'll be fine. I'll just make her some cookies when I get home and it'll be okay."

"I didn't even know you and Quinn were friends. You never act like it at school." Why did he have to ask so many questions?

"We're recent friends, actually. She got put as my lab partner in Chemistry, and we've just sort of grown to love each other over time," I lied, coming up with a cover story. Quinn and I actually were lab partners, but we weren't cordial at all during that class, using it as an opportunity to perfect our acting.

"I'm sure she loves that," he muttered, obviously not intending for me to hear it, but I did.

"Excuse me?"

Jesse shook his head. "Nothing. Are you ready to go?"

"Well if you're ready. I'm sure Quinn would appreciate you not keeping me out any later than needed."

He smiled. "I'm sure she would. Check please!"

* * *

Something about eating way too much Chinese food with the Berry men made me sleepy. Well, I always was sleepy after a big meal. So afterwards, as I collapsed back onto the couch to read some more, I found myself getting way too relaxed to focus on the pages.

I only realized I had fallen asleep when I felt a kiss being placed on my cheek. My eyes fluttered open to find Rachel beaming at me.

"Was I really gone long enough for you to fall asleep?" she questioned lightly.

"Well you know me. I'm always falling asleep these days," I replied, sitting up and stretching. "So how was your date with the biggest jerk on the planet?"

"Quinn, be nice. He's an _actor_; he's allowed to be a jerk," I heard one of Rachel's dads say from the love seat where the two of them had been watching a movie for the past half hour. He said it in the way that I could tell he had gotten an entire speech on all of Jesse's previous roles.

"Daddy!" Rachel cried.

"What? I can't tell the truth?"

"Not if it's mean!" She took my hand, trying to pull me up. "Come on Quinn, let's go make cookies and leave these two to talk badly about my boyfriend."

I flinched when she used the term 'boyfriend'. "No, I agree with them," I said, falling back on the couch, bringing her with me.

"I would like to state the fact that I never said I agreed, nor do I want to enter this fight," Leroy said. "I just want to enjoy my movie in peace."

Hiram sighed before addressing Rachel. "Though I don't like him, and neither does Leroy for that matter, we can't dictate who you can and cannot date, no matter how arrogant he is."

"Thank you, Dad," she grinned. "Quinn?"

I glared at her, just daring her to reprimand me. She just arched an eyebrow, waiting for my answer. "Do what you want. Why should I care? I'm just looking out for your best interests." I hopped up and practically stormed into the kitchen, anything to get away from her amused smile that reminded me a little too much of Jesse's.

She was there within seconds, her face etched in worry. "I went too far, didn't I?"

"Just a bit," I admitted in a whisper, unable to look at anything but the floor. "Did it hurt you this bad when I was with Finn?"

"Sometimes," she replied, wrapping her arms around my waist to pull me into an embrace. "But most of the time it was fun, trying to steal him away from you."

"I am so sorry," I choked out, trying my best not to cry. I didn't want to cry. It happened way too often and half of it was because of the pregnancy hormones but the other half was that life was really being a bitch to me.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not." No one deserved to feel like this.

"But it is. I knew what I was signing up for, so drop it," she smiled wearily. "Now how about those cookies?"

"I'd like that."

* * *

Monday rolled around before either of us really wanted it. Quinn was all for skipping and just staying in bed, but I thought we should save our skip day for when we really needed it.

Everything was finally back to normal. Quinn was happy, I was happy, and I was pulled into a bathroom on my way to second period. Only it wasn't Quinn.

I made to escape the second I saw who it was. Quinn would murder me if she found me with Gabrielle, and I really wasn't ready for us to fight again. She gripped my arm even tighter, not letting me get away.

"Please," I begged, hoping she would let me go.

"She's not going to find out," Gabrielle promised. "I just wanted to talk to you."

I sighed in defeat, knowing there was no way I had the strength to escape a Cheerio. "What?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you knew I was gay?" she questioned, loosening her grip a bit.

"I didn't think it was any of my business," I replied, shrugging. "Besides, you're a scary Cheerio."

She smirked at this. "Well, I'm not really that scary because I'm still just a freshman."

"I don't know, Quinn was pretty scary the last few weeks of freshman year when she got on the Cheerios."

"Well she's _Quinn Fabray,_" she stated, as if that should be explanation enough.

"And you're Gabrielle Avery."

"Yes, I am, and I can't glare at someone like Quinn or Santana. I can't be mean like them. That's one of the reasons why I almost didn't make the cut for Cheerios back at the beginning of the year."

I almost laughed at this. "Quinn isn't mean. That's all an act. She's a big softie. As for Santana, yeah she's mean I can't deny that."

"I can guarantee that it isn't all an act for Quinn. The way she looked at me when I caught you two…" She trailed off, obviously still embarrassed on walking in on Quinn and me making out. "Sorry about that, again."

"It's fine. We should've been more careful. Usually we are, but we had just reconciled after a big fight and got a bit carried away," I explained. "You… You haven't told anyone, have you?"

"No way! I'm not risking bringing the wrath of Quinn down on me." She looked shocked that I would even suggest it. "And you? You haven't told anyone that I'm gay?"

"Dear, I've known since Freshman Orientation. If I was going to tell anyone, which I'm not, I would've done it by now," I assured her, and she let out a noticeable sigh of relief.

"Thanks. You're alright, Rachel."

"Are you just now figuring that out?" I teased.

"No. Just thought I'd tell you seeing as you always have Quinn tearing you down."

"That's all an act, Quinn would never-"

She stopped me, smiling at my outburst to defend Quinn. "I know. I was kidding. I kind of figured it out."

"Oh."

"I can understand why she would hide her relationship with you, but why are you okay with this? You seem like the person who isn't into hiding things, especially the things that mean the most to you."

I hesitated, not really ready to tell our story to a complete stranger. "That's quite a long story."

"Well," she took a pen from her bag and proceeded to write on my hand. "This is my number. We'll go out for coffee sometime and you can tell me the epic tale of Quinn and Rachel. Bring her along too if it will make her feel better."

Then she was gone with a smile and a swish of her Cheerios skirt.

* * *

When Rachel got to Chemistry late, there was a number written on her hand. I really couldn't deal with _another_ boy trying to date Rachel. It was hard enough dealing with Jesse and sometimes Finn. So I decided to put a stop to it immediately.

I ripped a piece of notebook paper to scribble a note to my lab partner.

_What exactly is written on your hand?_

Rachel looked from the note to me, clearly confused why I hadn't just asked her out loud. She should've known by then that we couldn't really talk in Chemistry. I motioned for her to write back.

_**You're very attentive today, Quinn. Are you wearing your contacts? Because if you are then you should be able to clearly see that it's a phone number.**_

I scowled at her. She was avoiding it.

_I know that. And yes I'm wearing contacts. Whose number is it?_

She frowned slightly when she saw what I wrote. I expected her to put that it was Mike's or Matt's or some other Glee boy that I could kindly tell to back the fuck off, but that's not what she put.

_**Gabrielle Avery.**_

That little… I was very close to jumping up and going to find her, but was stopped by one strong glare from Rachel.

_**No. You're not allowed to go after her. She just wants to talk. I don't think she's fully accepted the fact that she's gay yet like you have.**_

_I'm so sure all she wants to do is talk._

_**Seriously, Quinn. She wants to hear our story.**_

_And why would you tell her that? We don't even know her._

_**I think it would be nice to have another friend.**_

_She wants to be more than friends with you._

_**Quinn stop!**_

_We'll talk about this later._

I snatched up the paper full of our conversation, ready to put it in my backpack, but she took it back from me.

"Go get the things we'll need for our lab experiment," she said to me.

"Who made you the boss, Berry?" I questioned before going after the equipment that everyone else already had.

When I came back, she had drawn a heart with "Q + R" in the middle of the back of the paper. She was beaming at me like I'd just won the part of Natalie in _Next to Normal_. I shook my head and smiled at her before slipping it in my backpack for safekeeping.

* * *

Quinn broke character. She completely shattered the emotionless bitch personification that she had been taking on that day at lunch. Having watched Mercedes faint in the cafeteria, she quickly took action, not even thinking about the consequences that this would cause her.

When asked about it later by other people, she would blame it on the baby hormones making her nice, but I knew that wasn't the case. Quinn was truly a nice person, even if no one else saw it. It made me happy realizing I had fallen in love with the best person possible.

* * *

Rachel was right. I did break character. It was easy to cover up, but that still didn't change the fact that it had happened. I didn't dwell on it though, because it was the right thing to do and I ultimately gained a friend out of it.

Mercedes had joined the Cheerios in one of Coach Sylvester's attempts to bring something new to her routines. Being offered a spot is a whole lot different than working your ass off for it and trying to learn every single thing you can to get a leg up on the competition. Thus, she wasn't prepared for diet she would have to go on when Coach ultimately deemed she needed to lose some weight.

So when she fainted from lack of food, I jumped up from my table with Puck at my side to help her. We both managed to get her to the nurse's office (well, he mainly did all the work since I was pregnant and couldn't do a lot). I made him run to the vending machine to get her some food, because I knew exactly how hungry she really was.

I had been there. Those few weeks after I broke up with Rachel freshman year and joined the Cheerios, I had basically starved myself, both in hopes of slimming down to impress Coach and as a form of punishment for hurting Rachel. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but we all know by now that I was just the master at making stupid decisions.

Rachel was there that summer to put a stop to it, though. I had someone to stop me, and so I decided to be that person for Mercedes. If I didn't, who would?

And in the end, I gained a new friend.

* * *

We weren't allowed to use the auditorium anymore for Glee because of the Cheerios. I suggested to Mr Schuester that we simply put in an application to use the community theater for the time being, but he ignored me like always, saying he had found the perfect place to rehearse.

Which was how we ended up at a roller rink owned by the drunk that had replaced me in glee club months prior. Why Mr Schue thought we were going to get any work done, I have no idea.

Except it turned out to be even worse than I imagined. Jesse was being overly flirtatious with me, and it was testing Quinn. She came very close to breaking character in an even worse way, sending glares at us more than once. After about ten minutes, I suppose she couldn't take it anymore and stormed out, almost falling in her hurry to get out of the rink. Jesse chuckled, but I gave him a stern look and he relented.

"Guess it's a good thing she's not in the Portland Scale Blazers glee club. I hear they like to do numbers in roller skates," he commented.

"I'm going after her," I stated, ignoring what he said and skating off to the edge of the rink. By the time I had pulled the skates off my feet and run to the door, though, her car was gone and I was stuck there.

"She seemed really angry, maybe you should just leave her alone to cool down," Jesse suggested, coming up behind me.

"No, Quinn hates being alone," I muttered almost to myself. Then I whipped around to face him, suddenly realizing that he could drive. "Will you take me home?"

He didn't falter. "Of course." Because underneath the smugness, he really was a great person.

She was hiding in the pillows of my bed, pretending to sleep, when I got home. I sighed before getting in the bed and snuggling up next to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly, even though I already mostly knew. I just needed her to talk to me.

"Your boyfriend is a dick," she replied, her voice muffled from the pillows as she refused to come out and look at me.

"Quinn, you have to understand that as my boyfriend he's allowed public displays of affection. I didn't storm off every time that you and Finn-"

"No, you don't get it," she said, sitting up and turning to face me. "He _knows_."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, following her up out of the refuge of pillows and taking her hands in mine.

"He told me the other night while you were getting ready for your date that he can tell I like you. He knows and he's flaunting it in my face that he has you and I don't."

Well, there went my views of Jesse being a nice guy. "He obviously doesn't know everything if he doesn't realize that I'm actually yours." This got a grin out of her. "And you know that if you wanted to, you could do all the things he does."

The grin vanished and her eyes darted away from mine. "I can't."

"You can, and one day you will. Until then we'll pass the time by playing this ridiculous game."

"It is pretty ridiculous, isn't it?"

"It is," I agreed, watching as the sadness left Quinn and all the while plotting a new plan to make up for the events at the roller rink.

* * *

When I got to my car after school the next day, Rachel was sitting behind the wheel looking absolutely determined. I got into the passenger seat, knowing that I wasn't going to be driving.

"No wonder I couldn't find my keys earlier. I didn't know one of your talents was pickpocketing," I commented as she started the engine.

"I have quite a few talents you don't know about."

"Mm. I'm not having an emotional breakdown, so any reason why you're illegally driving?"

"I'm taking you somewhere."

"I can see that."

She beamed at me. "Snarky Quinn has returned."

"She would like to know where we're going."

"She should wait and see."

"You're so difficult."

"But you love me anyway."

"That I do."

Then she pulled into the roller rink's parking lot, completely confusing me. "I didn't think we had Glee today?"

"Oh, we don't," she replied, hopping out of the car, leaving me to follow along behind her.

"Then would you like to clue me in on why we're here?" I asked, catching up just as we entered the door.

"One second, I need to get our skates." She sat me down in a seat and left me once again to retrieve skates, but not before stealing the shoes I was wearing.

"Here you go," she said, handing me my skates when she got back. She started putting hers on, but I didn't budge.

"Explain."

She sighed, sitting up. "I thought that maybe you and me could skate today and act like we're a couple. Jesse wasn't very nice to you yesterday, and I want to make up for it."

"But won't other people see?" I questioned, but I had already started putting the skates on.

"Quinn, it's Senior Citizens Day. No one here knows us. I even checked to make sure that tramp April Rhodes wasn't going to be here today."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" I asked, smiling at her as I laced up my skate. She had went to so much effort just to make up for something that she didn't even do. "Let's go skate."

* * *

**Song: That Guy by On Call Heroes**

**A/N: Look at that, it only took me a week to post this one. Don't get too used to it. Anyway, Jesse knows. Sorta. He was the .5 I was talking about last chapter in people finding out about Quinn and Rachel. Some good guesses in the reviews about who the other 3 to find out this season are gonna be, but only one is right so far!**

**I feel like I should address this again, since I only mentioned it briefly way back at the beginning. This story is meant to be able to fit into Glee canon. Because of that, I can't very well deter from some things. All the things that happen on the show _have to happen_ and I have to somehow incorporate a faberry plot around them. The way I plot out each chapter before writing is by watching the episode and taking notes on what scenes I have to put in. It's time-consuming and frustrating for all of you who I know just wish Quinn and Rachel would get together, but it's my headcanon.**

**On another thing, this story is going to be long. I predict I'll hit 100k by the end of the first season. So it's not going to all be sunshine and rainbows for faberry. This is not only because of the aforementioned Glee plot I have to work around, but because I'm not writing a 300k fluff story. Character growth has to happen, and it's gonna take some time. There's gonna be hopeless chapters like last week's, and there will be rage chapters (like the later half of season two), and of course there will be the occasional fluff chapter, but I can't do one of those every week. That would be immensely boring to write for me. So if you can't deal with the angst, I suggest one of my other stories. Quinn Misèrables and Jacob's Maze are both complete, and We Go Together will be complete by the end of March (not to mention I'm writing a Hogwarts!faberry story at the moment), all of which contain less angst than this.**


	28. Eggshells

_"But it's out there yeah I said it  
And in a way I don't regret it  
'Cause I won't sit back and let us slip away  
I'm tired of the eggshells we've been walking on  
We've been here for far too long."_

**Centered around Bad Reputation.**

It was a Tuesday when things started to go downhill. A few weeks had passed since skating, and we were fine. Better than fine, actually. Quinn had come to terms with the fact that Jesse was going to be around for a bit longer, though I could tell she didn't like it. I still felt that he would make a great friend, if we could just ease out of dating and into friendship. My prediction was right, of course, but it wouldn't happen for quite a few years.

Back to Tuesday. I had been spending more time with Quinn over the weeks, leaving Jesse to become irritated. So when he requested I join him for lunch, I decided it was best if I did it. The fact that it was Tuesday, the day I usually spent having lunch with Quinn in the auditorium, didn't hit me until that afternoon when she left me at school to walk home.

She was sprawled out on the couch watching Harry Potter when I got home. Well, she was probably watching it at the beginning; I found her sound asleep. Either that, or she was really good at acting like she was sleeping. It was probably the former though because she was tired all the time.

"Quinn," I whispered, sitting down on the little bit of space she had left on the sofa. Her face scrunched up for a second but otherwise she remained the same. She was awake. "Quinn, I know you're awake." Nothing. "I don't see why you're so angry with me. I forget one thing and you completely shut me out. That's hardly fair. Please just say something."

"Go away I'm sleeping," she mumbled irritably, rolling over to bury her face into the side of the couch.

"No you're not."

"You're right. I'm not. _Anymore_." She sat up, giving me a glare that didn't exactly phase me anymore.

"Either way, I want to apologize for the lapse in my memory earlier. I should've been there and-" She held up a hand to stop me. She was smiling so I considered that a good sign.

"Rach, I left school before lunch because I wasn't feeling well. I've been passed out right here the entire time."

Well this was certainly a change in events. "But I thought you left me to walk home because you were mad."

"Oh, I did plan on going back to pick you up, but I guess I completely slept through that. Sorry. Didn't you even notice I was missing for half of our classes and glee?"

I was completely off the hook. "I guess I forgot to check."

"Are you the one who needs to rest? You seem to be forgetting an awful lot of things today," she teased, pecking me on the cheek before jumping up. "How about I bake some cookies to make up for you having to walk the excruciatingly long walk home?"

"You're very playful for someone who came home sick, which you should've texted me to let me know, by the way," I stated, following her into the kitchen.

"If I had texted you, you would've skipped school to take care of me, and if you weren't there then who would I get the notes I missed from? So cookies? Or cupcakes? I learned how to make cupcakes in Home Ec the other day. Oh, and I can do brownies!"

I laughed, because she was acting like an excited little kid and it was better than I could've hoped for. "You can make all of these vegan?"

"Yeah. Our textbook has vegan substitutes for everything in the back."

"Well, I would love to learn how to make cupcakes," I grinned.

She grinned back at me. "Cupcakes it is."

* * *

The reason she didn't think anything of me missing from my afternoon classes was because I actually was in them. I was in school all day, including glee, and I did leave her at school on purpose. I had wanted to be mad at her, but when I heard the pleading in her voice as I pretended to sleep, I couldn't. So I played it off.

It was only one missed lunch, and she had proven time and time again that she cared for me and not Jesse. I could let it slide.

Then it happened again.

The next week, Rachel didn't show up for lunch again. I waited for ten minutes, but I knew after two that it was useless; Rachel was never late. It really upset me that she wouldn't at least just text me that she couldn't make it, but I didn't want to fight with her again. I was done with fighting.

So I decided to sort of get back at her instead of ignoring her or yelling at her. I left the auditorium to spend the rest of my lunch in the library, an idea already forming in my mind that would not only spite Rachel, but maybe even gain me a little popularity.

Thus the Glist was born.

* * *

The second I saw the Glist, I immediately assumed it was Noah. Only he would rank me at the very bottom just because I didn't put out and then put Quinn at the top. Except he confessed to not doing it when I confronted him in glee, which left me stumped.

"Quinn, who do you think is behind the Glist?" I questioned as we walked to her car after glee rehearsal.

"Oh I don't know," she replied, checking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following us. She normally did this every time we walked together and I was so used to it by then that it didn't hurt anymore.

"Why are you at the top, though? You don't think the person behind it knows about us, do you?" It was something that had worried me ever since finding out Noah wasn't the culprit behind it.

She snorted. "I doubt that. Otherwise why would you be at the very bottom?"

"Good point. You're probably top because of the fact you cheated on Finn and are having Noah's child," I reasoned.

"Mmhm," she distractedly agreed, getting in the car.

"But can you believe I'm at the bottom? I mean, Matt's higher than me! I helped Finn cheat on you! I should at least be higher than Matt!" I cried, letting out some of my frustration.

"Did anyone else even know about that?"

"Well, not really."

"There you have it."

I sighed. She was right. "So what are your plans for the afternoon?"

"I have to start my paper for Chemistry."

"You haven't started it yet? I just had Jesse proofread mine when we went out for lunch today." She noticeably stiffened at the mention of Jesse, or at least that's what I thought it was about at the time.

"No."

"Well this isn't like you. I'll be happy to look over it after you finish, except I can't until I get back from my dance class with Jesse. Though it's not like you'll be through before then, right?" I laughed, trying to ease the tension that was suddenly suffocating.

"See you later, Rach," she said upon reaching my house. She practically ran out of the car and started walking down the street. Weird.

* * *

The next day, I was frantically working on my Chemistry paper in the library during my lunch period, having not had the chance to do much of it the day before. I couldn't be falsely cheery for the entire afternoon. Especially since Rachel hadn't even realized that she skipped our lunch together.

She realized it very quickly though. I was halfway through the paper when I heard her.

"Why exactly aren't you in the auditorium?" she asked.

"Berry, this is a library. You have to be quiet," I reminded her, trying to focus on my paper and not the girl behind me.

"Answer my question."

"No one told me we were having a glee rehearsal during lunch today," I stated.

"Don't play dumb, Quinn. It doesn't suit you. It's Tuesday and you were supposed to meet me there twenty minutes ago, half of which I excused due to your lack of ever being punctual."

I almost laughed. "It's Wednesday."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is," added someone else. I whipped my head around to find Gabrielle, who just happened to be shelving books nearby.

"Get lost," I snarled at her.

"I kind of can't. I'm acting librarian for this period while the real one is out to lunch. And it wouldn't matter if I did. I could still hear your conversation at the other end of the library. You two are loud," she explained. This didn't make my glare at her lessen any.

"Gabrielle, please," Rachel begged. "Give me some time to talk to Quinn."

"Anything for you, Rach," Gabrielle shot Rachel a dazzling smile before disappearing down another aisle, and I swear in that moment I hated her more than Jesse.

"God she's annoying," I complained to nobody in particular.

"You just don't like her because she likes me," she replied, sitting down in the chair beside me. "But I'm not here to talk about her."

"Then what _are_ you here for?"

"It's Wednesday and I stood you up for the second time in a row. Quinn I-"

"It doesn't matter." I tried pushing her away. She was going to apologize and look all sad and then I would feel guilty for the Glist.

"Yes it does."

"No, it doesn't," I insisted. "Now will you please leave me to finish my paper? It's due by the end of school and I'm only halfway done."

She sighed, standing up. "I really am sorry, Quinn."

My gut twisted, but I didn't say anything to her as she made her way back out of the library.

The period was almost over when she came rushing back in, even angrier than before.

"What exactly did you do yesterday while I had lunch off campus with Jesse?" she questioned.

"Oh, you know, the usual," I shrugged, not daring to face her.

"Quinn Fabray you're lying," she accused.

I turned around at this. "You can't prove that."

"You wrote the Glist!" Shit.

"You can't prove that either."

"I can't believe you!" she cried before storming out. Though it was far from over. She just didn't want to cause a scene in public.

I was going to be in a heap of trouble when I got home.

* * *

Quinn has always been good at schemes, just like me. It's how she not only got on the Cheerios, but impressed Sue Sylvester enough to make her captain. I usually just laughed about these when she told me them later, but not once had I been on the receiving end. Until then.

I was so furious at her. Why couldn't she just confront me like she normally did? She didn't have to go to all the trouble of hurting my feelings! I mean, I knew her feelings were probably hurt, but that didn't mean mine had to be as well just because I forgot one little thing!

If that was the way she wanted to play, then so be it. I set up filming schedules throughout the week with not only Jesse, but Puck and Finn as well. If Quinn asked, I would just say I was on a date. Not that I really expected her to ask. I wasn't going to be the one to break our silence, and I _always_ had to be that person, so I knew we would stay silent.

She ended up answering the door when Jesse came over that afternoon, having been doing homework at the dining room table to avoid me. I made it down the stairs in enough time to witness her slamming the door in his face before quickly gathering her things and retreating to the basement.

"Sorry about that," I said, opening the door back up to let him in. "Quinn's…"

"Not in a very good mood?" he supplied.

"I guess you could say that. Shall we get started on my video?"

* * *

Ugh I hated Jesse St James. At that point in my life, I pretty much hated the world. No one in it liked me, so why should I like it?

This is what I thought about instead of doing my homework while I brooded in the basement. Every once in a while, the faint sound of Rachel's laugh would reach me and my stomach would twist a little tighter. Why did she like that asshole of a guy? Because if she would ditch our lunch date for one with him, then she obviously liked him. A lot more than me, it seemed like. Why would she even like me? I was nothing but a screwup, destined to be stuck in this town forever because I had a teen pregnancy.

I ended up sleeping downstairs that night, not bothering to get up to eat or anything. I couldn't be bothered to, not to mention the fact that I didn't want to run into Jesse again. There just wasn't a way I could handle seeing his smug little face without breaking it.

Rachel was gone by the time I finally forced myself to get up. Her dads told me she walked, which was stupid because she would just end up hurting her vocal chords from the cold air. I could've driven her.

That afternoon, the unthinkable happened. I was on my way to the kitchen to get a snack when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was probably Jesse, I rushed to get it, hoping to get in a good hit before Rachel got downstairs. So when I opened the door and found Puck, my jaw dropped.

"Woah, Baby Mama, your fuck buddy is Berry? Didn't see this one coming," he stated walking in past my frozen form.

"I… I'm not staying with Manhands, I'm just here to work on our lame Chemistry project," I stammered, wondering where my keys were so I could escape. I couldn't just hide in the basement like I had the day before. Why was he at Rachel's?

"Right… Chemistry… I'm sure you two are working on Chemistry," he waggled his eyebrows at me and I honestly had no idea what girls saw in him.

"Yeah… Well, I'm leaving now. Berry's upstairs."

"Why not stick around? Threesomes are fun."

"With you? And Berry? As if." Dammit where were my keys!

"Oh, already got someone in mind? Or already participated in one with Santana and Brittany?"

"What happened to the sweet Puck that took me to Waffle House?" I questioned angrily.

"Babe, he's still here. Chill out. I'm just playing with you."

"Did I hear the doorbell?" I heard Rachel call from upstairs. Luckily, I located my keys on the living room coffee table at that exact moment. I was out before I could even hear why he was there.

* * *

"What's her deal?" Noah questioned, gesturing to Quinn as she escaped out the front door.

I sighed. "She just doesn't like me very much, I guess."

"Still, she doesn't have to be a complete bitch and just run out without even saying goodbye or something."

"That's Quinn."

"You know, she's the love of my life and all that mushy shit, but she is such a bitch."

"I know how you feel," I muttered under my breath.

"What?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Follow me upstairs to my bedroom and we can get started."

Later on, he would ask me if I thought he made the Glist, and I would have to bend the truth so as not to get Quinn in trouble. Even when we were angry we looked out for each other. He would then go on to try and kiss me, which I just couldn't allow. Not only was he supposed to be "dating Quinn" but I was dating Jesse and I knew adding another guy into the mix would only make matters worse.

So we strictly recorded the video, and all the while Quinn was stuck in the back of my mind. I had no idea where she was, and she had seemed pretty depressed and angry lately. She could end up doing something stupid.

I hoped she wouldn't.

* * *

Brittany's house ended up being my refuge that night. I just couldn't go back and chance facing Puck again. Though it meant I had to put up with Brittany's questions.

"Did you and Rachel have a fight?" was the first thing she asked when I entered her room.

"Yes," I answered, sitting down on the bed with her.

"When San and I fight, she always runs away too. But then she comes back and says she's sorry and we have lady kisses. You should go see Rachel."

"No, I can't. Puck's at her house," I patiently explained.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"I don't know, I guess she likes him more than me."

"If she did then San would go after her like she did with you. But she hasn't so Rachel still loves you."

Brittany was pulling me out of my depression. "You really think so, B?"

"But you need to watch out for Mr Schue's son."

"You mean Jesse?" I corrected her.

She nodded. "He doesn't look at Rachel with nice eyes."

"What do you mean nice eyes?"

"Like, he looks at her like he wants to hurt her. You look at her with nice eyes because they're filled with love and rainbows and stuff, like San's when she looks at me."

For a second, I just stared at her, contemplating what she said. "You know, I don't think everyone gives you enough credit. You're really smart."

"I try," she smiled. "Now before we cuddle up for sleep, do you think you can help me hide Lord Tubbington's cigars?"

* * *

Quinn didn't even come home the next day. I guess she assumed that Finn would be over, which he was, and she didn't want to chance meeting him.

My fathers started asking about her disappearance, asking if we had had yet another fight. I couldn't just lie to them, so I told them yes, we were currently fighting. They both sighed and went back about their business. I could tell they were holding back, waiting to talk about me when I was gone, so I left them to do just that.

Maybe I had overreacted about the Glist. Maybe she had overreacted about me forgetting about lunch. Maybe we both just needed to calm down and apologize.

It wasn't until the premiere of my video on Friday that things started getting better.

* * *

As I sat in the choir room, watching a very bad music video of "Run Joey Run" during my lunch period with the rest of the glee club, I couldn't help but be happy. This was why they were all at her house. She wasn't trying to anger me, unless this video was supposed to anger me when it only made me laugh. She was trying to show off her "bad side" to me, and all it was doing was making me laugh and probably costing her her boyfriend.

I would have to congratulate her later on a job well done.

Though before I could get to her, Mr Schue got to me. He knew I made the Glist. And in a moment of pity, he didn't rat me out to Figgins. I had never really liked him before, but after that and the pep talk he gave me, he was actually tolerable to me for the moment.

A text came from Rachel shortly after my meeting with Mr Schue as I was walking down the empty hallway to my locker.

_**Jesse broke up with me.**_

_Talking to me again?_

_**I thought you'd want to know, seeing as you loathe him.**_

_Thanks for the good news, then._

_**Can we stop fighting?**_

_I would really like that._

_**Then turn around.**_

I was halfway to my car, fully ready to skip out on glee. I whipped around, and there she was, holding her phone. Any other time, I might've found it creepy that she had followed me while texting me, but I had missed her too much to care. I practically ran into her arms.

"Never again, okay?" she stated as she buried her face into my neck.

"Right."

Wrong.

* * *

**Song: Eggshells by Hawk Nelson**

**A/N: Little bit of fighting, but it was necessary because of the Glist. There'll be a small amount of angst in the Dream On chapter, but other than that it won't be too bad until we hit Funk, which is what I'm writing right now. Though it's gotten very hard to find the time to write, what with work and musical rehearsal and papers due and midterms coming up. I am trying to have the end of season one up by May. Speaking of the end of season one, since someone asked, I'm not going to just jump straight into season two. There will be a chapter of the months after regionals, and maybe a summer chapter between sophomore and junior year if I'm feeling up to writing pure fluff.**

**So I think that's all I have to say. Thoughts? Predictions? Comments?**


	29. Arms

_"I hope that you see right through my walls_  
_I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm already falling_  
_I'll never let a love get so close_  
_You put your arms around me and I'm home."_

**Centered around Laryngitis.**

No. No no no no no no no no no no…

"Quinn!"

"What?" she groaned, still asleep and unaware that I was about to start panicking.

"There's a tickle in my throat!"

"'M not ticklish, Rach, go back to sleep," she mumbled, clutching me tighter and burrowing her face into my hair.

I extracted myself from her to sit up, and a pout instantly formed on her face. She was obviously displeased about losing her cuddle buddy. "It's time to wake up anyway."

"Five more minutes…"

At this, I promptly hit her upside the head with my pillow.

"Do you really want to start a pillow fight with me?" she asked, eyes still closed.

"You say that as if I wouldn't win."

"Because you wouldn't. But," she sighed, finally opening her eyes and sitting up. "I'm not going start anything because I don't want to see you pouting all day."

"Like you were just pouting mere minutes ago?" I teased.

"I don't pout."

"But you actually do."

She sighed before sitting up. "There's no hope in arguing with you."

"Glad you see it my way," I grinned before coughing, trying to get the tickle out to no avail. "What am I going to do?"

"Guess you'll learn your lesson and not walk to school in the cold just because we're fighting," she smirked, getting out of bed.

I shot her a glare. "It's probably nothing anyway."

"Probably."

"But I'm going to increase my vitamin intake just in case."

"Go ahead."

"And I'll require soup made by you."

She laughed. "Not until you're really sick."

"I am sick!"

* * *

It started again that afternoon. Since Rachel believed in daily vocal training, we still ended up singing even though we didn't have glee rehearsal. We were halfway through "Perfect For You", which we always started out with when we sang _Next To Normal_, when she had a coughing fit.

I immediately stopped playing piano and sprinted to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. She was taking deep breaths when I got back.

"You okay?" I asked, handing her the glass.

She took a long sip of water before answering me. "No. The tickle won't go away."

"I told you not to go walking in the cold."

"I don't think it's that."

I arched an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

"No one else has been pulling their weight in Glee Club, and I'm the one who has to pick up the slack! I sang seven solos last week!"

She couldn't possibly know… "Are you seriously complaining about having too many solos right now?"

"It's not just the solos, it's the fact that people have stopped singing! I can't sing it all, this tickle proves that. So I had the choir room bugged and I'm just waiting now for the tape to come back so I can pick apart the performance and see who's not singing." Oh no…

She was going to kill me. "Which performance was that, exactly?"

"Oh, it was just us doing scales. That way there are no instruments besides the piano for me to pick out." Shit. I never did scales.

"You know what? Why don't I get started on that soup you requested. Any type in particular you'd like?"

She brightened at this. "Surprise me."

Oh I would surprise her all right.

* * *

Upon inspection of the tape, I was appalled to find that half the glee club wasn't singing! I expected to find Santana and Brittany, and some of the guys, but _Quinn?_ _My Quinn_?

"Lucy Quinn Fabray!" I called out, knowing she was downstairs getting a snack.

She appeared in the doorway, sandwich in hand, frowning. "Is there a reason you used my full name?"

"Is there a reason as to why you've stopped singing in Glee?" I snapped back.

Realization hit her like a freight train. She started slowly backing out. "I'm just gonna go_—_"

"Oh no you don't!" I jumped up and caught her by the wrist before she could escape. "You're going to sit down and explain why you've stopped using your lovely singing voice."

She sat down on the edge of my bed reluctantly. "I haven't stopped singing. I sang with you yesterday."

"Then why aren't you singing in Glee?"

"I don't really see a point."

"You don't see a point in improving your voice?"

"It's not that, it's just Mr Schue's stupid life lessons. They're not helping us prepare at all for Regionals."

I sighed. She did have a point. "You'll sing when we start rehearsal for Regionals?"

"Of course."

"Okay."

She grinned. "So am I free to go, Officer Berry?"

"Oh you're not getting off that easy. You'll have vocal training with me every day."

"Is that code for making out?"

"You wish."

* * *

Something was wrong. I didn't wake up to the sound of Rachel's voice, or her on the elliptical. Instead, I felt her still curled up against me, sound asleep. It was her turn to be the big spoon, and I knew she loved it, but she wouldn't miss school for it, would she?

I slowly extracted myself from her arms and turned to make sure Rachel wasn't dead. She was steadily breathing, which was a good sign.

"Rach, you need to wake up. We're going to be late for school." I shook her gently. She scrunched her nose up, but otherwise didn't make any indication she had heard me.

"Rachel," I said a little louder. No movement. I didn't want to kiss her awake in case she actually was sick, so I had no other choice. "Rach, Barbra Streisand's waiting downstairs to give you the lead role in the _Funny Girl_ revival."

She opened her eyes to look at me confusedly before closing them again. "I'm too young for that role, but nice try."

"We're going to be late for school," I repeated.

"Let's skip school. I'm too tired to even get out of bed," she mumbled.

"I'm all for that," I replied, laying back down so she could resume cuddling with me.

"Though we have to be there for Glee. I'm gonna sing a solo."

"You can't be serious."

But she was.

At noon, while I was heating up some leftover soup for both of us, she came dashing down the stairs before skidding to a stop in the kitchen.

"What time is it?"

"Lunchtime?" I held up a bowl to confirm my statement.

"What day is it?!" she shrieked.

"Thursday?"

She looked panicked. "Why aren't we in school?"

"You're sick. Did you hit your head?"

"No, Quinn, I didn't. I'm just confused as to why you kept me home on a school day!"

"Calm down," I said, pulling her into a hug in hopes that it would help. "You were the one who wanted to skip school, though. Don't blame me." She squirmed out of my arms.

"We have to get to school! Oh I bet we missed notes in Chemistry and History. This isn't good." She started pacing the kitchen.

"It's not the end of the world, Rach. People get sick. We'll make up the work. In the meantime, sit down and have some soup."

She sat down at the kitchen table with a huff. "The minute we finish eating, we're going to school."

"In our pajamas?"

She looked down to see she was still wearing her pink footie pajamas. I had gotten it for her as a joke because it was covered in gold stars, but she ended up loving it and wearing it all the time.

"After that."

She made us go, even though I told her it would be for nothing. We ended up getting back just in time for study hall and our remaining afternoon classes. We even went to glee, where she had bitched us all out about not singing yesterday.

I was highly against her singing a song, seeing as she was showing signs of actual sickness and I didn't want her to damage her voice, but she didn't listen to me. She insisted that she had to start off this week's assignment.

Listening to her sing "The Climb" was one of the most painful and awkward situations I've ever been in. The worst part was that she was so into the performance that she didn't even realize she was bad until Mr Schue stopped her. He told her that she had lost her voice, and she ran out of the choir room. We all sat there in silence for a minute, still in shock of what had happened.

"Well, I guess that's it for today," Mr Schue said, dismissing us.

I casually strolled out of the choir room, so as not to raise suspicions. I couldn't just run after her, no matter how much I wanted to. Besides, it's not like she could go anywhere. I had driven us there and she wasn't going to take any chances on walking again.

It took me two tries before I found her in the auditorium. The other stops were at two bathrooms along the way, but both of those were empty.

When I opened the door, I could hear the faint sound of piano. As I got closer, I recognized it as being "Perfect For You", which I didn't even know Rachel knew how to play. It was only as I approached her from the left wing that I heard that she was trying to sing along with it.

I joined her for a line, but the moment she heard my voice she froze.

"I can't sing anymore," she stated, not looking at me.

"Mmhm," I agreed, sitting down on the piano bench with her.

She whipped her head around to snap at me before I could get another word in. "You're not supposed to agree with me!"

"You didn't let me finish. Yes, your voice is gone right now, but it'll come back."

"How do you know? What if it doesn't? What if I'm stuck like this forever?"

"Then I will never talk to you again because I can't associate with a talentless person," I joked, but she just gaped at me, obviously not catching my sarcasm. "I was kidding, Rach!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! I'll still love you even if you lose your ability to stop my heart with a song." It sounded a bit corny, but I knew it would make her feel better. "But really, I think you just need to give it some time to heal."

"I think I need to see a professional."

"For voice overuse and a cold?"

"It could be more!"

"You're overreacting."

"Fine!" She abruptly stood up. "If you don't believe me, I'll have Finn take me to the doctor."

"Rach, I'll go with you to the doctor if you want to really go."

"No! It's too late now! I'll see you at the car!"

She started to storm out but stopped when she heard me say, "It's not unlocked."

I hurried to catch up with her and took her hand when I did to escort her out. "Come on, let's go home."

"I'm not letting you take me to the doctor."

"You'll change your mind."

"No I won't."

"Whatever you say."

* * *

Truth be told, I didn't want Finn to take me to the doctor. I would've preferred to have her, or even Jesse, take me. But I wasn't one to give up so that's how I ended up in the doctor's office with Finn.

It was awkward, but it definitely proved that he cared. I still had him on the hook, which was the point of dating Jesse in the first place. I just had to figure out how to gently transition Jesse from lover to friend without losing him. If I came out of this, winning the bet with Jesse as my friend and Quinn as my girlfriend, it would be a miracle.

Speaking of Jesse, he was still in the picture. I thought we had broken up after the whole Run Joey Run debacle, but every once in a while he would text Quinn just to let her know that I was still his. As if. Quinn was about ready to claw his eyes out when he came back from spending Spring Break in San Diego with his Vocal Adrenaline friends.

While Quinn still loathed Jesse with every inch of her being, Finn was slowly growing on her. He was becoming more like an annoying puppy, and she would laugh at the way he pined for me. Well, at least most of the time. She still sometimes relapsed into jealousy.

Though not on the day that Finn sang "Jessie's Girl". Right after the song, I checked my phone and found Quinn had sent me a text that read,

_**I have Jesse's girl.**_

_Always._

I hid my grin and quickly put my phone away to listen to Noah's song.

It was all good fun until he pulled Mercedes up there to sing with him instead of Quinn, his girlfriend. They may have had a pretend relationship so Quinn could stay with me and not have any questions asked, but this was breaking the rules. Quinn told me that he could sleep with as many girls as he wanted, just as long as he kept up the image that the two were dating.

Inside, I raged. How dare he! If he was going to go after another girl, especially a girl in glee who wasn't Santana, he should at least have the decency to end things with Quinn. I decided I would let him have a piece of my mind after the day's Glee rehearsal.

"Noah may I have a word with you?" I asked after Mr Schue dismissed us. Quinn glanced back to give me a weird look, but got up to leave anyway.

"Um, sure," he shrugged, sitting back down in his chair, having gotten up to leave. "As long as you don't want me to do another one of those stupid videos."

"No, no more videos," Rachel sighed and stood up, letting the anger she'd bottled up during the song come forward as she started pacing the choir room.

"Are you okay?"

"How could you, Noah! Quinn is your _girlfriend._ Does that mean nothing to you?" And I was off. "Is it because she's no longer popular? Is that it? Well if so you should at least properly break up with her first! That is common courtesy! You're not supposed to just flaunt your budding relationship with Mercedes in her face!"

"Woah, slow down. Quinn and I_—_" I wasn't going to let him get a sentence in before I was finished.

"She is a human being and not only that, but a practically perfect one! Do you not realize how lucky you are to be dating her? I mean if I had the chance again I_—_" I stopped mid-sentence, realizing what I'd just let slip in my rant. Judging by the smirk forming on Puck's face, he knew too. Quinn was going to kill me.

"You've got the hots for Quinn." It wasn't a question. How was I going to explain this to her?

"I never said that," I replied quickly. She was going to kill me.

He laughed. "You totally do!"

"She's going to kill me," I muttered. I hadn't meant for that to come out, but it was the only thing in my mind at the moment.

"She _knows_?"

"She's kind of in love with me too," I admitted softly. Might as well tell the truth rather than have a rumor spread.

"So you're who she was talking about in the Waffle House! I knew there was a reason she was using 'they' instead of 'he'!" he cried. "Man, you messed her up good that day."

"I know. She was just upset about Jesse arriving at my house for a date-"

"Why are you even with this Jesse kid? You and Q are hooking up! That's the hottest thing I've ever heard of!"

"Well we dated throughout freshman year in secret, but now she's afraid of how the public will react to her being a lesbian," I explained. "And there has been no 'hooking up' at all if you're referring to sex."

"So Q is a lesbo. No wonder she didn't like sex with me. Nobody has sex with the Puckster and says it's only okay."

"Can we please refrain from talking about that time? It still hurts." And it did. Quinn's sleeping with Puck caused periodic hurt.

My phone buzzed. I had a text from Quinn.

_**Still waiting in the parking lot for you. What's taking so long?**_

"Sorry, one second," I said to Noah before going back to reply to the message.

_You don't have to wait. I'm perfectly capable of walking home._

I really wanted to have a chance to collect my thoughts before she questioned me on what I talked about with Noah.

"That Quinn?" he asked.

"Yeah. She wants to know what's taking me so long," I said absentmindedly. "Wait, how did you know it was her?"

"You got this goofy grin on your face."

_**I'll be waiting**_**. **_**You're already sick.**_

"Oh." I put my phone back up. "I never noticed."

"I bet you're her fuck buddy too."

"Noah, I don't appreciate the coarse language, and I already told you Quinn and I have not_—_"

"No, I mean that's what I call the person she's been living with that she's covering up. That's you, isn't it?"

"Oh. Well yes, that is me, then," I confirmed. "But listen, Noah, everything I've told you, both willingly and accidentally, is meant to be shared with no one. It is of the utmost importance that you keep this to yourself."

"You kidding? Like I want Quinn to come after me with a axe. Your secret's safe with me."

"She's probably going to come after me with an axe," I murmured, and he laughed.

"Good luck, Berry," he said, walking toward the door. He stopped mid-step and turned back toward me. "You know, I really hope it works out between you two one day. It'd be hot to see you have Quinn pressed up against a locker and making out with her."

"Yeah, it would," I quietly agreed once he was gone.

* * *

Rachel looked immensely guilty when she got in the car. I decided to just tease her instead of confronting her immediately.

"Please tell me you're not adding Puck into your little game where you try to make Finn, and ultimately me, jealous," I stated as we pulled out of the parking lot.

She kept her eyes trained on the road in front of us, not speaking.

"Shit, Rachel, you're not really doing that are you?" I questioned, getting worried. Her last attempts with Puck had gone well in making _me_ jealous, but otherwise they were ineffective.

"I might've accidentally let something slip to Noah…" she murmured, still staring out the window.

"How can you 'accidentally let something slip' when you were the one who made him stay to talk? And what did you tell him that's got you so distant?" I tried to keep a light tone as I talked, just to help keep Rachel calm.

"I made him stay behind because he didn't officially break up with you and there he was blatantly flirting with Mercedes through song. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind because even though you two aren't in an actual relationship, what he was doing was wrong."

"Puck and I actually talked about this. He wants to date Mercedes and I'm fine with it. We're just no longer fake-dating," I explained. "Didn't I tell you this?"

She glanced over at me. "No?"

"I'm sure I told you yesterday, but you were probably so out of it you don't remember." Was this really what she was so upset about? No, I decided. It couldn't be. "So are you going to tell me what you told him?"

Rachel went back to staring out the window. "You're going to kill me…"

"I honestly don't think you could do anything to cause me to be that angry," I assured her as we pulled into her driveway.

"I may have told him about our relationship…" she muttered.

I froze, halfway out the car door. I turned back to look at her. She couldn't be serious. "You what?"

"I got so caught up in my rant that I let it slip that I'm in love with you and then it all just sort of came out. Please don't be mad, Quinn," she pleaded.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping this was a dream. It felt like the world was caving in. Puck _knew. _Puck couldn't keep secrets. Well, he had kept my pregnancy secret for a while, but that was a special case. Knowing him, it would be all over the school by the next day.

"Why don't I get some cookies started and we can watch Harry Potter?" Rachel suggested, my eyes still shut.

"I'm going on a walk," I stated, turning my back on her and walking down the driveway.

"Wait!" Rachel called, sprinting to catch up to me. "You can't. It's not good for you to be out here in the cold. Look what it did to me."

"I'll be okay," I promised her. "Just let me think for a while."

She sighed, knowing she couldn't stop me from doing it. "Okay. Please don't stay out past dark, and have your cell phone on."

I nodded and set off again.

When I was a block away, I pulled out my phone and dialed Puck's number. Hopefully I could stop it.

"Baby Mama! I was just talking to your girlfriend_—_"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. Rachel is not my girlfriend," I corrected.

"Yeah because you're scared. Come on, Q, you gotta step it up. Be a man."

"I'm not a man." I reminded him. "And I didn't call you to get a pep talk."

"Then what _did_ you call me for?"

"You haven't told anyone about what Rachel told you, have you?" Please say no please say no please-

"Of course not. Rachel's a fellow Jew. I wouldn't betray her trust. Though I don't get why it's such a big deal. You and her would be super hot. I can already imagine it."

"_This_ is exactly why we're not telling anyone. It's already going to be bad enough with the repeated offers from you for a threesome. I don't need anymore. Not to mention the way people would look at me…" Before I knew it, I was spilling my secrets.

"That's not what this is about, though. You're afraid it'll make you look bad to date Rachel. Hell, you're afraid it'll make you look bad to just be friends."

I was silent for a moment. "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

"Well someone had to set you straight. Ha ha, straight. There's nothing straight about you."

"Just don't tell anyone," I said through clenched teeth. I wanted to yell at him, but it wouldn't be effective if over the phone.

"Sure thing."

I hung up on him then.

For about half an hour, I walked the streets of Rachel's neighborhood. I could no longer run because I was too far along in my pregnancy, but I needed to think and walking got the job done just fine.

There was no use being mad at Rachel. She seemed genuinely sorry and it had only slipped out in the heat of the moment. I couldn't be mad at Puck either, because he wasn't the one who made Rachel tell him. The only person I could be mad at was myself for keeping this a secret in the first place.

Puck had been right after all. I was afraid of my popularity plummeting even more. I hadn't really acknowledged it before, but since he said it, my fears made perfect sense. It made me feel like a horrible person, because Rachel didn't deserve that. She deserved someone who was unafraid of the slushies and people looking down on them. Not me, surely.

One day maybe it wouldn't matter to me. And when I reached senior year, it didn't. But by then it was too late. Of course I didn't know that at the time or I might have tried harder.

The second I walked in the door, I was hit with the aroma of fresh cookies. She had kept her promise. When I went in the kitchen to investigate, sure enough, they were there, along with Rachel.

She turned around and beamed at me. I quickly pulled her into a grateful hug.

"You're the best, Rach," I whispered in her ear.

Rachel nodded in understanding and broke the embrace to busy herself with cleaning up the kitchen. Why wasn't she speaking?

"I'm not mad at you," I stated, hoping that would get her to say something. She continued cleaning. "What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

She turned around from the sink to face me. I could see tears forming in her eyes. "I tried to sing while baking cookies," she whispered. "It's worse now." The last part was said at normal volume, only her voice cracked like a heavy chain smoker's would.

"I'll get the tea kettle."

* * *

Quinn took very good care of me over the next few days, taking me to see doctors and trying to help me feel better. She knew how much my voice meant to me, and how devastated I would be to lose it forever.

Finn, however, didn't. He blew up on me in the hallway on one particular day in which I had accidentally worn my pajamas to school. Quinn said she tried to tell me that I was wearing pajamas as we got ready that day, but I hadn't listened and she had let me come that way. He called me out for being "too dramatic". Later when I told Quinn about this, she completely disagreed, saying that she realized my dreams of being on Broadway required my voice and that Finn should stop being such a dick.

So when Finn took me to visit his friend who lost everything because of one accident, I couldn't help but feel terrified. This could be my career-changing injury. I held it together until I got home, but the second I saw Quinn I completely lost it.

She quickly gathered me up in a hug and let me cry it out, knowing that I would explain when I was ready.

"What if I never get my singing voice back?" I whispered when I was no longer crying uncontrollably. "What if I never make it to Broadway?"

"Then I will still love you," Quinn stated, pulling back so she could look me in the eyes. "Even if you end up a voiceless hobo on the side of the street, unlikely as that is, I will still love you."

I laughed weakly before burying my face back into the crook of her neck. "You always know what to say."

"No, that's usually you, but I'll take up the slack while you're sick," she joked. "So, I found this Broadway remedy online that's supposed to really work. They apparently use it when actors lose their voices. I made some for you, if you want to try it."

"Of course!" I beamed at her before following her into the kitchen. "You know, I think I could live without Broadway if it meant having you forever."

Quinn just stared at me. "You really _are_ sick."

"Shut up!" I lightly hit her on the arm.

She grinned. "Hopefully you won't ever have to pick and choose."

"If I did, it would be you," I admitted quietly, knowing Quinn didn't hear me.

At this realization, I knew I had actually gotten something out of Finn taking me to see his friend. Which was why when the Broadway remedy worked surprisingly, and everything went back to normal, I went and sang with him. Because I had found out that there were some things that were more important than my dreams. As long as Quinn was around, I didn't need anything else to make me truly happy.

Around two years later I would find out what it was like to live without both my dreams and Quinn.

* * *

**Song: Arms by Christina Perri**

**A/N: So there's a fluffy chapter. Hope you enjoyed it because it's the last for a while. ****I just finished writing the Funk chapter which, well, had me in a funk for quite a while. I hate being mean to Rachel and Quinn, but I guess sometimes it's necessary. Hopefully I can breeze through Journey and the two filler chapters. When I get them all written, the updates won't take two or three weeks to get out.**

**And now Puck knows. Congrats to you guys who predicted it. Two more left though, one of which no one has guessed.**


	30. Wait Another Day

_"I will wait to love you_

_I will wait another day_

_For you I'd leave __all this behind."_

**Centered around Dream On.**

After Rachel's voice came back and I was once again prone to hearing show tunes being sung loudly throughout the house at all hours, all was well again. We were getting along, probably better than before. School wasn't entirely bad. Finn wasn't hitting on Rachel to the point that it was completely intolerable. Jesse still wasn't back from his spring break.

And then suddenly he was.

The doorbell rang in the middle of _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_. Having been my turn to pick the movie, Rachel was asleep, her head in my lap as I played with her hair. I carefully removed myself from her, wondering if her dads had just ordered a pizza without telling us, because neither of us were expecting anybody.

I opened the door to see his smug face and almost slammed it shut.

"What do you want?" I asked, hearing the growl come out in my voice.

"Ms Fabray, I do believe that I deserve a proper greeting, despite the fact that we're love rivals."

"I am being polite at the moment, St James. I didn't just slam the door in your face the second I saw it. Speak now, or I will," I threatened, not letting him glide past me as he was used to doing.

"I am here to see my girlfriend," he stated. "Now if you'll please-"

"Since when are you still her girlfriend?" I questioned.

"Rachel and I are destined for each other. We are going to be the show choir power couple, and later the Broadway power couple. Nothing, not even a little spat, or you, for that matter, is going to get in the way of that."

I was fuming and about to respond to him when I heard Rachel.

"Quinn, who's at the-" she stopped upon sitting up on the couch and seeing who it was. Rachel grinned. "Oh hi Jesse! I didn't know you were coming by today!"

Something inside of me snapped, as it usually did when Jesse came around. But this time it was worse. He was getting Rachel's smile, the smile she usually only had for me.

Jesse slid past me then, and met Rachel halfway in a hug. I grabbed my keys, not planing on sticking around.

"I'm going out," I muttered to no one in particular before I stormed out of the house using a diva storm-out I had most likely picked up from Rachel.

I didn't really know where I was driving, just that I had to get away from that house. The absence of Jesse had created a sort of happy bubble that I wanted to live in forever, but it had just been popped and I had to go. The anger and jealousy were back in full force.

Somehow, I ended up at Puck's house. It definitely wasn't what I had planned. If anything, I had meant to go to Brittany's house. But that didn't stop me from barging into his house.

"Woah, hey," Puck said, abruptly sitting up from his couch. "What's up, Baby Mama?"

I stole the remote from him and turned the tv off, ending his game.

"What? I was just about to defeat Bowser!" he yelled, throwing his controller to the ground.

"Let's have sex," I bluntly said, moving forward to kiss him.

He held me off at arm's length. "No can do. Rachel would kill me."

"Rachel doesn't care," I murmured, trying once again to get closer to him only to be stopped again.

"Yes, she does," he insisted, standing up. "You should've seen the way she talked about you when she let it slip she's fucking crazy about you."

"But she's still with Jesse." I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, but I couldn't cry; not in front of Puck.

"Yeah so? Until you get the fucking balls to actually date her then you don't have any say in who she dates."

"But she smiled at him! She's only supposed to smile at me! She's in love with me!" I knew I was being a whiny diva, acting more like Rachel than I ever wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

"You're fucking insane," he said before pulling me into a hug. "I'm gonna give you some advice now because I would really love to see you and Berry make out one day. People can move on. I don't see it happening right now because, yeah, she's crazy about you, but if you don't grow up then she will get over you. You're not irreplaceable. Jesse can swoop in and take her out from under you, or you can fight for her."

"But I can't," I whimpered, the tears falling by then.

"Yes you can. You're not some weak shit. You're Quinn fucking Fabray, head bitch, and you always get what you want."

I didn't want to talk about this. I couldn't talk about this. "Can't we just have sex? I'd even settle for making out!"

He smiled at me. "You have no idea how happy that would make me, but I really don't want Rachel to come at me like the crazy ax-murderer I know she can be."

I was willing to compromise. "Then can we cuddle?"

"As long as you don't tell Rachel, and let me go back to my game."

"Deal."

* * *

Jesse being back was… a challenge. For the first couple of days, Quinn didn't know. He hasn't been in school at all, and therefore she never saw him. The only reason I knew he was back was because he showed back up at dance class and then we subsequently met in the library to discuss finding my mom. I didn't mention this to Quinn, though, because it would just upset her, and at the time I thought Quinn was really making progress.

Then I made a misstep. I forgot that he was going to be coming over to look through things to help me find some clue about who my mother was. So I didn't plan on getting Quinn out of the house. Which meant I ended up hurting Quinn even more than if I had just told her outright that Jesse was back.

And while I really _was_ worried about what Quinn would be like when she came back, if she came back, my mind was a bit preoccupied with the tape in my hands. The tape that Jesse and I had found that was supposedly from my mother. I couldn't really decide if I should listen to it. I definitely didn't want to listen to it with Jesse; I didn't really even want to listen to it with Quinn.

Either I completely lost track of time or Quinn could no longer stay away, and let's be honest it was probably the former, because I could hear the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. I knew it wasn't either of my fathers, because they would've loudly announced their presence the second they came through the front door, just like they always did. So it was either Quinn or a burglar, and it just wasn't a rational time of day to be burgling.

Quinn strode into the room, not sparing me one look, before collapsing face first on the bed. The small glance I got at her face showed she had been crying, which made me feel even worse.

"Quinn?" I whispered, crawling onto the bed to wrap my arms around her. She didn't answer, instead choosing to scoot as far away as she could get from me without leaving the bed.

"Why," was all she said after a minute.

"Why what?" I questioned. There were many things she could be asking about. Why was Jesse back? Why hadn't I told her Jesse was back? Why wasn't I finished with my homework yet?

"Jesse," she mumbled.

"Oh. Him. Sorry I didn't tell you he was coming over today. I honestly forgot about it myself," I admitted, hoping it was what she wanted. One-word answers could be interpreted any way.

She rolled over and sat up, staring at me blankly. "I thought you two weren't dating anymore?"

"Well… We never officially broke up…"

Quinn sighed. She looked as if she wanted to protest this, but was just too damn tired to do so. "That's just wonderful. Wake me up when he's forever out of your life."

"I don't think he ever will be. I like Jesse, and I'll probably remain friends with him even after our relationship is over," I explained to her. She blanched.

But before she could respond, we were called downstairs by my dads, having just arrived home with Chinese takeout.

Dinner was a very awkward affair. My dads were oblivious to the tension between Quinn and me. Or at least I thought they were. Both of them asked the normal questions about our day, and we would respond, but neither of us would chime in on each other like we usually did. Well, like we usually did when we weren't angry at each other.

It was only when Quinn completely ignored my request to pass me a fortune cookie that Daddy snapped.

"Alright you two, I'm sick of it! You're such close friends but I'm sick and tired of seeing you at each other's throats all the time!"

"But daddy-" I tried. He wasn't hearing any of it.

"Whatever happened, I want you to go upstairs and work it out, and I don't want to see either of you until you're back to normal!"

"Are we allowed to finish dinner?" I questioned.

"No. Leave your plates and we'll take care of them. Upstairs. Now."

I sighed and placed the napkin that had been in my lap onto the table. Quinn trudged up the stairs and I followed behind her, making sure to keep my distance. There was no telling what sort of mood she was in at the moment.

Quinn rounded on me the second I got the door closed. She seemed to have gained the fire to fight during our brief intermission. "So why exactly did you tell me you and Jesse were broken up?"

"I thought we were…" I murmured. It hadn't really been clear.

"I just…" She looked like she was ready to scream in frustration. "You have no idea how much he infuriates me!"

I pulled her into a hug, despite her protests to get away. "I'm sorry."

She sighed into the hug. "Me too. I know I have no right to-"

"But you do. You're allowed to be jealous. And angry. I thought he had left me forever too. Except he didn't. He strode into dance class on Monday like he owned the place."

"Wait, he's been here since _Monday_?" She tried to pull away, but I held on tighter.

"I didn't want to upset you."

"What do you think I am now?" she cried dramatically, and I giggled. We were okay. We would always be okay.

"Will you remember that I'll always love you?" I asked.

"No, you'll have to remind me frequently," she replied and I laughed into her shoulder. "Especially when Jesse's been over here."

"Okay," I promised, and she broke the hug to stare at me.

"So why was Jesse over here anyway? It obviously wasn't that important if you completely forgot about it."

"Um… Well…" I honestly didn't want Quinn to know, but I knew lying to her was just delaying the inevitable and causing more hurt. "He's trying to help me find out about my mom."

She looked like she wanted to say something, but she reigned it in. "And did you find anything?"

I snatched the tape up from my desk. "This."

* * *

I was really trying with Rachel. She didn't need me freaking out on her. So I made sure to not lose control too much, which is easier said than done. It's extremely hard to not lose control when you have baby hormones.

So when she showed me the tape, I was on my way to calming down.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I… I'm not really sure."

"You mean you haven't listened to it?"

"What? No, of course not." She looked appalled. "I couldn't do that with Jesse here."

"So what's stopping you now?"

"Um… well…" She seemed so uncomfortable.

Then it hit me. "Oh. You don't want me to be around."

Her face took on a pained expression. "It's not that, I just-"

I interrupted her. "No, I get it. I'll go back downstairs."

I started for the door but she grabbed my hand, stopping me. "Please, just let me explain."

There was no way I could deny her anything. "Okay."

"Quinn, I'm not ready to listen to the tape. I am not emotionally ready to take that on. But when I am, I don't want anyone else to be here," she explained after sitting me down on the bed.

I nodded. "That's understandable."

"The reason I don't want you here is because it might cause a negative reaction to you," she went on.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't spoken to your mother for quite some time, so I'm afraid that this might hurt you. That's why I asked for Jesse's help and not yours in finding information on my mother."

I scoffed. "That wouldn't hurt me. I don't care about my mother. She abandoned me."

"Yes you do, Quinn." She was wrong. I didn't care one bit about my mother. She had just let Daddy kick me out, and I couldn't forgive her for that.

"So are you staying with Jesse?" I questioned, abruptly changing the subject.

"For the moment, yes," she answered. "Unless you're ready?"

I closed my eyes for a second. Here was my chance to get rid of Jesse and get back the girl I wanted. Except the fear I felt when Tina, Brittany, and Puck found out appeared again in quick flashbacks. What happened when I had to experience that fear tenfold? So I kept my mouth shut and shook my head, eyes still closed tightly.

I heard Rachel sigh and then felt her wrap me in her arms. "One day we'll get there," she whispered into my ear. That day wouldn't be for quite some time. We would both endure many hardships before that day came, and I would always wish I had been just a bit braver at this moment, or really any moment after that so neither of us would have to go through what we eventually would.

But like I've said before; I'm a coward. It figures I would be with the parents I got.

* * *

I didn't want to listen to the tape with anyone, that much I made clear. But what was I supposed to do when Jesse put it on himself?

Even though I meant to stop it, not wanting him to be there should I have a complete emotional breakdown, the second it started I knew I would have to listen until the very end.

As the last note of "I Dreamed a Dream" faded out, I knew I was going to break down. I turned to Jesse and told him he needed to leave. He didn't refuse and try to help me; instead he just nodded and left. If I hadn't been in such a fragile state, I probably would've thought something of it, but all I really could think about was how much I just wanted Quinn to hold me.

Then suddenly she was there, holding me close and whispering words of comfort as she tried to move us to the bed. We made it there after a bit, and she held me as I cried.

After a while, when the tears were finally gone, Quinn spoke. "So did you listen to the tape?"

"Yes," I whispered.

"With Jesse?" she asked, confused. She had gone down into the basement at Jesse's arrival and only came back up when she was sure he was gone.

"No, I listened to it after he left," I lied. I don't know why I lied. It might've been because I didn't want her to get hurt, or I could've just not wanted to tell her.

All I know is that that was the beginning of the end.

* * *

**Song: Wait Another Day by Uh Huh Her.**

**A/N: So you've guessed all of them now. Congrats.**

**Also, sorry if I keep hinting toward season three. I'm just warning. Shit is gonna go down mid season two, and it's gonna get better for like one chapter before getting infinitely worse for all of season three except maybe three chapters. So if you're here for the fluffs... why are you still reading?**

**The next chapter is fun. Well kind of. I had fun writing it because it only took a week. Quinn does some awesome things. Rachel meets Shelby, so of course there will be sad!Rachel, but at least she's not fighting with Quinn, yeah? **


	31. Caught in the Lie

_"We've been playing all of our lives_  
_in a world of little white lies_  
_and if we want to make it_  
_then we're gonna have to fake it_  
_and no one's gonna realize."_

**Centered around Theatricality.**

"Is this really necessary?"

"Yes!"

"But why do I have to be here?"

"To make sure I don't do anything stupid!"

"Too late…"

"Quinn!"

Somehow, I had been dragged into snooping through the dumpster behind the Vocal Adrenaline auditorium. I really needed to learn how to say no to Rachel. Thankfully, I had enough strength to put my foot down when she wanted me to go dumpster diving with her. Though this was probably more of the fact that I suggested we needed a lookout and Rachel agreed.

"I just don't see why we have to do this."

Her head popped up to look at me from in the dumpster. "Do you want to win Regionals?"

"Yes, but_—_"

She wouldn't let me finish. "Then we have to do this. You don't just walk into battle unprepared, after all."

"And what if we get caught?" There was no way this was legal.

"That's why you're lookout!"

I sighed, and Rachel went back to work. It was no use arguing with her when she had her mind set on something.

After another ten minutes of searching through mounds of empty energy drink cans, Rachel apparently found something.

"Oh no…" I heard her say.

"What is it?" I asked, moving a little closer to the dumpster so I could try to peer inside. No such luck.

"Christmas lights," she said as she came out of the dumpster. As if that explained anything.

"And now you know what they're doing?" I questioned, completely confused.

"You don't?" she asked distractedly, making her way back to my car, leaving me to follow along behind her.

"Um, no?"

She shot me a glare. Was I supposed to know? "I'll explain once I'm absolutely sure. Until then, to Joelle Fabrics!"

"Wait what?" I asked as we got in the car.

"You know, the fabric store? It's a couple blocks over?"

She motioned for me to start the car. "Yes, I know where you're talking about. I just don't see how you can go from Christmas lights to a fabric store."

"And you're supposed to be the smartest in our class?" she teased.

"Just tell me what it is," I whined.

"No, I don't want to speak it out loud until I'm certain."

"Fine."

The drive to the fabric store was a short one. As Rachel said, it was only a few blocks away; the perfect place for Vocal Adrenaline to get fabric for their costumes.

"Stay in here, it'll only take a second," Rachel said before practically jumping out of my car.

So I waited. Within a minute, she was back, and she looked pale.

"What is it? Can you tell me now?"

She nodded. "They're doing Lady Gaga."

* * *

The majority of the glee club had the same reaction as I did when I told them about Gaga the next day. Well, the boys didn't, but that was to be expected.

"So I was thinking about what our next move should be," I stated, strolling into the girls' bathroom after practice, where I knew Quinn was.

"Next move?" she asked from a stall.

"Yes, on the Vocal Adrenaline front. We have to find out exactly what they're doing so we can beat them."

I heard a flush, and then Quinn walked out. "Isn't that going a little too far? Why not just focus on the glee assignment for this week?"

"Regionals are right around the corner, and we should already be preparing! Frankly, I don't think Mr Schue has any idea of what he's doing," I admitted, leaning against the wall as I watched Quinn wash her hands.

She sighed. "Does this involve anything illegal?"

"Well…"

"Rachel!"

I giggled. "No, I don't think it's illegal."

"Then what is it?"

"We sneak in and watch one of their practices from the balcony!" I gushed. Her face dropped.

"That's definitely illegal."

Suddenly there was another flush, and I looked at Quinn, wide-eyed. We had been joking around like normal. Neither of us knew there was someone else in there with us.

"Well you can count me in on checking out the competition," said Mercedes as she walked out of the stall. "When are we going?"

Quinn and I exchanged a glance. This was really our thing. "Um now?" I suggested, hoping she would have other plans.

"I can do that."

I groaned internally. "Quinn, will you accompany us?"

"If I go to jail because of you, Berry, your dads are paying to get me out," she warned.

"Don't worry, Quinn. We're not gonna get caught," assured Mercedes before leading the way out the bathroom door. Quinn and I followed along a few steps behind her.

"Wouldn't they be paying to get you out anyway?" I whispered to her.

Quinn just rolled her eyes. "Don't think I don't know the real reason we've been spying on Vocal Adrenaline," she whispered.

"Oh really? And what is that?"

"You're just trying to see if Jesse went back to them because he's not here anymore!"

It actually hadn't occurred to me that I hadn't seen Jesse since he made me listen to my mother's tape. I was a bit preoccupied with what was on the tape.

"Oh whatever!"

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" asked Mercedes, turning around.

"Nothing!" we both managed to say at the same time, making it look even more suspicious.

She just shook her head and continued toward the parking lot. "You two have been acting so weird lately," she muttered, almost to herself. Except Quinn and I both heard her.

"H-have we?" I asked shakily. "I'm sure it's just Quinn's raging pregnancy hormones."

"Watch it, Berry!"

"See? One minute ago she was cordial and now she's mean." Quinn glared at me, trying to regain control of the situation. I knew for a fact that Mercedes was not a person we wanted to find out about us. If her or Kurt ever found out, we were screwed.

She laughed. "You two act like a married couple that's always on the verge of either killing each other or having sex."

Quinn scoffed. "Please, as if I'd ever marry a girl, much less Rachel."

"I would like to think if I were to marry a woman that she would be nicer, not to mention be able to sing a little better. I need someone who can keep up with me vocally." Mercedes would remind us of this conversation much later after receiving a wedding invitation.

Quinn's jaw dropped. "That… This is why you don't have friends, Rachel. You insult anyone who extends even the smallest amount of kindness to you."

"Well you've certainly extended the smallest amount possible," I commented wryly.

"I guess it's a good thing I'm going," Mercedes said as we finally reached her car. "You two would have killed each other by now."

The ride over was silent. I had thought if Quinn and I fought enough, it would have dissuaded Mercedes from going with us. Unfortunately she was still there.

Quinn, who was sitting in the front seat, seemed to be seething with rage. Did she not realize I was acting?

I shot off a quick text to make sure she was okay.

_Sorry I insulted your voice. I was trying to get rid of Mercedes._

Seconds later, I got a response.

_**It's fine. I kind of picked up on the fact that we were acting. Sorry I said quite a few mean things.**_

_You were just saying what you need to say. I'm used to it now._

_**You shouldn't be. No one should be used to insults. I'll make it up to you later.**_

_Is that a promise?_

Before Quinn could text me back, Mercedes finally called us out as we pulled into the Vocal Adrenaline parking lot. "Are you two texting each other?"

"What? No," I dropped my phone into my lap as if it was on fire. "Just texting Finn."

"And I'm uh texting my… doctor," Quinn added, fumbling for a lie.

"Your doctor?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm about to have a baby, my doctor wants to keep up with me," Quinn snapped.

Mercedes was unfazed by her anger. "And do you normally smile like an idiot when you text your doctor?"

"Would I smile like an idiot if I was texting Berry?" she quipped.

"Maybe if you and Rachel are hiding something?" Mercedes suggested.

"What exactly would we be hiding?" I questioned, trying my best to keep my voice from shaking. This was a bad idea.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"We're not hiding anything," Quinn cut in before I could say anything. "Let's just get this over with." She was out of the car before anyone else could argue.

"What's her deal?" Mercedes asked me, to which I shrugged and got out of the car to follow Quinn.

Once inside the building, we quickly made our way up to the balcony.

"You think they can see us?" Mercedes questioned as we made our way to the seats in the balcony.

"If they catch us are we gonna have to go to jail?" Quinn whispered, re-voicing her worries from earlier.

"Stealing their ideas is not a crime," I whispered back. "And your shoes are making noise."

She glared at me as we slid into out seats.

"They look amazing," I stated.

I ended up hanging on their director's every words instead of taking in the costumes and the choreography. She was talking about theatricality, and I could tell she was immensely passionate at what she was doing.

Then she started singing 'Funny Girl', and everything changed.

The second she started singing, I knew it was her. I just had to get closer though, to make sure. Quinn tried to stop me, knowing we would be in big trouble if I got us caught, but I didn't listen. All I could hear was her voice, the voice from the tape.

When it stopped and I found myself right there, I knew I had to say something.

"Ms Corcoran?" She looked over at me curiously. "I'm Rachel Berry. I'm your daughter."

* * *

Mercedes and I didn't stick around. Ms Corcoran cancelled rehearsal after Rachel made contact. She assured us that she would get Rachel home.

I wanted to stay, to make sure Rachel was okay, but I rode there with Mercedes, and Rachel told me to go. She looked so frightened. I knew she had never expected to get this far in finding her mother, and the reality that it was happening was enough to scare anyone.

When I got back home, I threw myself into homework. It was something to keep my mind off the fact that I had left Rachel, my precious Rachel, with some stranger. I just hoped she got home before her dads. If she wasn't home, they would ask questions that I wasn't entirely prepared to answer.

About ten minutes before her dads usually arrived home, when I was about to have a complete panic attack, she walked through the door.

"Rachel?" I called out, getting up from my place at the dining room table and hurrying toward her. "Are you okay?"

She fell into my arms the second I got close enough. "S-she doesn't want me." I pulled her close, knowing a Rachel Berry breakdown by sight.

"Oh Rachel," I sighed when I felt the tears fall down her face, which was nestled in the cook of my neck.

I just held her for a while, letting her cry. There was nothing I could say. Though I was a bit worried about what Rachel's dads would say when they found us. I quietly suggested we move this up to her room, and she let me lead her there.

When her dads got home, she quickly dried her tears, and we went down to dinner.

During dinner, I got a text from Kurt saying he was designing theatricality costumes and did I want one? Of course I did. It was one less thing to worry about. So I got a reply inviting me over.

"Hey," I said, broaching the subject with Rachel while washing dishes. "Kurt's designing Gaga outfits tonight. You wanna go with me and get one made?"

She smiled at me, drying the dish I handed her. "Thanks, but I don't really trust Kurt's judgement of my wardrobe anymore."

I laughed. "Will you be okay while I'm gone?"

"I'm fine, Quinn. Go ahead."

And I believed her.

* * *

I probably should've went with Quinn to Kurt's. Truth be told, my fashion sense wasn't the best. Try as we may, my dads and I just couldn't produce a decent outfit. The fact remained that none of us could sew.

When Quinn came back late that night with her beautiful outfit, she tried to hold in her laughter.

"Is… Is that your outfit?"

I sighed. "Maybe the animal sweaters are no longer an act."

She smiled before wrapping me in a hug. "You're adorable.

"No I'm not," I muttered.

"And why not?" she questioned, frowning slightly.

"My mom doesn't want me," I admitted quietly.

"Then she's crazy." I buried my face into her neck. "Hey wait no. Listen to me." She brought my head up so she could stare into my eyes. "I know you wanted this to work out, and I'm so sorry it didn't, but you can't retreat into your shell and feel unwanted. Because you are wanted. I want you. Your dads want you. Hell, even Jesse and Finn want you!" I smiled at this. "So don't for a second think that you're unwanted."

She had said exactly what I needed. Truth was, I had been feeling highly unwanted. I had been wanting a reunion with my mom of the likes that you would see in a musical, but it hadn't happened. Quinn knew that without me even having to say anything.

I pulled her in for a soft kiss. "Thank you," I said when we broke apart.

"That's what I'm here for," she joked.

Unfortunately she wouldn't be there for much longer.

* * *

Rachel's outfit caused a bigger stir than usual. I told her she should wait until glee to put it on like me, but she refused.

It seemed like every person I passed in the hall was talking about Rachel's costume. I was immensely surprised when she didn't get hit with a single slushie. Though by third period, I was beyond irritated by all the talk. Her outfit wasn't _that_ bad.

After my last class, I was headed out to my car to get my Gaga outfit and decided to take a shortcut under the bleachers. There was a group of girls talking under there already, and of course the topic of the day was Rachel.

"Can you believe what that Berry girl was wearing today?" one asked. I froze. "I mean, she looked like even more of a freak than normal!"

The others agreed with her, and I snapped. I had the girl, who just so happened to be pregnant as well, up against a slab of concrete within a second. The others looked ready to jump me, but the girl waved them off, looking amused.

"Don't you dare make fun of Rachel in front of me," I said through clenched teeth, my grip on the collar of her shirt not lessening.

She laughed. "Or what? You gonna do a cartwheel? Pray to Jesus? I know who you are. You won't do anything."

"You wanna try me?" I asked, tightening my grip.

"Yeah, I do," she replied. "You're not gonna do anything. I've heard you say worse about her. So would you prefer I call her Man Hands, or maybe I should just make out with her in a janitor's closet or-"

She didn't get to say anything else. My fist connected with her face and then I tackled her to the ground, not wanting her to be able to get away before I could beat the shit out of her. She knew about me and Rachel. This bitch knew.

I got one more hit in before her friends pulled me off of her. She hadn't hurt me at all. I guess she was still in shock that I actually did something.

"Save it for after you're both not preggo," said one of the girls holding me back.

The girl I fought didn't look mad. In fact, she smiled, despite her split lip. "You know what, you're alright. I thought you were a total pussy, but I guess not. They call me The Mack." She held out a hand.

I shook it. "They call me Quinn."

"You mean that's not your name?"

"No it is not."

She grinned. "Well alright then. So what is it, Q, no one can make fun of your girl except you?"

"Not my girlfriend," I insisted coldly. I wasn't letting my guard down around her.

"Didn't say she was. Listen Q, you ever need anything, you let me know. You won our fight and I honor that."

"It wasn't that much of a fight."

She laughed again. "I like you, Q."

"Yeah, well, I have to get to glee now," I said, continuing on my way.

"See you around, Q!"

Great. Just what I needed: another Santana.

* * *

I couldn't take it. I survived one day in my Gaga outfit.

Part of me wonders if this was my idea all along. Refuse costume help from Kurt, make horrible costume, hope mother will take pity and make me a great costume.

I snuck off that afternoon, taking the public bus to Carmel High, hoping that Quinn wouldn't notice. It wasn't that hard, seeing as she was hiding something herself. She wouldn't understand. I knew for a fact that she wouldn't let me go.

She would eventually find out, though. Of course I didn't plan on hiding it from her forever. I just had to make it until my mom had a second chance.

It went better the second time. We didn't talk much while she worked on my costume, but at least she was making it for me. At the end, she didn't say anything about meeting again, she just left the prop room to go back to her Vocal Adrenaline rehearsal.

So I called Quinn.

"You did _what_?" she shrieked through the phone.

"Sorry…"

"Rachel! … I'm not yelling at you over the phone. I'm on my way."

I hoped the car ride to Carmel High calmed her down. It didn't.

"I can't believe you! Why are you putting yourself in the way to be hurt?" She started when I got in the car.

"I just want a mom, Quinn," I murmured.

"Would you tell that to your dads?"

No. The answer to that was no. I loved my dads, and it would crush them if I told them that.

She took my silence for an answer. "I didn't think so. I know you want to give her a second chance because you're hopeful, but no good will come of this."

"But I have to try," I replied. "If I don't I'll spend the my life regretting it."

She sighed. "Okay, just know I'm here for you no matter what. I'm only looking out for you because I hate to see you hurt."

"I'll be okay," I assured her. "Now what did you do today that you don't want me to know about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted, and I giggled.

"You have guilt written all over your face. You didn't even question me when I left the house this afternoon."

"Maybe I am hiding something," she admitted. "Or maybe I'm not. Either way, you'll never know."

"Quinn!"

"Nope!"

"Just you wait!" Which, of course, started the singing of 'Just You Wait' from _My Fair Lady_, initiated by me.

* * *

I made a rash decision after I took Rachel home. This was all Jesse's fault. He was the one who started Rachel in on this mom thing. It was his fault she was all torn up inside. Yet he wasn't around the house anymore and he didn't go to school with us. So I decided to hunt him down.

I was full of rash decisions that day.

Right after I let Rachel out, I told her I was going to Brittany's.

She frowned. "But I thought you weren't mad at me? Why do you have to leave?"

"I'm not mad, I just have to go see her. I'll be back later tonight."

She came over to my side and pulled me out of the driver's seat. She stared straight in my eyes. "Promise?"

"Promise." I gave her a quick peck to assure her. "Now you better get started on homework so I'll have something to copy when I get back."

"Do your own homework."

I smirked. "We'll have better things to do when I get home instead of homework," I paused teasingly, letting her imagination wander. "Like watching _Funny Girl."_

She playfully smacked me on the arm. "Hurry back."

The drive to Carmel High was going to be instilled in my brain after this week.

I didn't know for sure that he was back at Carmel. After all, Vocal Adrenaline had been masked when we spied on their performance. All I knew was that he didn't go to our school anymore, and his Vocal Adrenaline buddies might know where he was if he wasn't there.

Unfortunately, it seemed that practice was over for the day. The parking lot was empty except for a lone Range Rover. That was weird; Vocal Adrenaline was known for all hours rehearsals.

I decided to go in anyways, hoping that the one person getting in some extra practice could help me find Jesse.

The experience with The Mack had made me bolder. I wanted to make him feel the pain he had caused Rachel. There might have been some personal feelings there as well, but they would just help me punch his pretty little face harder.

The stage was dark when I entered the auditorium. There was no Vocal Adrenaline member singing his or her heart out on the stage, Rachel Berry style. There was, however, a light on at the director's table in the audience.

I froze, wondering if I could face the woman herself. I couldn't beat her up like I wanted, that's for sure. My feet started moving again of their own accord, almost as if they knew I needed to do this.

"Can I help you?" Shelby asked, looking confused when I sat down beside her.

"Yes," I said simply.

"Wait, you're one of the girls who came with Rachel yesterday, right?" I nodded. "You two must be close. She kept looking at you after you came down from the balcony, almost as if you held the answer to every question." Then she added, as if an afterthought, "She'll never look at me that way."

"We are close," I confirmed, ignoring her comment.

"That's good. Everyone needs someone like that in their life. A best friend. Someday one of you will develop a crush on the other and it will all change."

"Already happened," I admitted.

"So it must have worked out for the better then," she nodded in understanding.

"Not exactly. We dated and I got scared. But I still love her, and she still loves me." I didn't know why I was telling this to her. I barely even knew her.

"Everyone's scared of something," she replied. "It just so happens that we're both scared of things that involve Rachel."

I looked over at her finally. Both of us had been speaking to the stage before. "So what do we do?"

"We do the only thing we can do: wait. One day we'll find some courage."

We didn't speak again for some time. "I don't want you seeing Rachel," I stated. "You're doing nothing but hurting her.

"What if I said the same to you?"

She was right. I was doing nothing but hurting her too. But I couldn't. I couldn't just cut myself off from her. I had tried before. "I can't."

"Exactly. So please don't ask it of me. I'm going to try, but I won't stop her from coming to me if she wants."

"Okay." I stood up. There was nothing more that I could say, and I needed to get back to Rachel. "By the way, my name's Quinn."

She smiled, and extended her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Quinn. I'm Shelby." I shook her hand and then carefully made my way through the darkened auditorium.

"Oh and Quinn," she called out when I reached the end of the aisle.

"Yes?"

"Good luck at Regionals. I know it's a bitch to sing and dance when you're pregnant."

I grinned. Shelby was okay. "Thanks."

The next time I would talk to her, she would have a proposition for me.

* * *

I didn't really get much homework done.

Shortly after arriving back at my house, I received a phone call from Noah.

"Hello?"

"Hey! How's my favorite Jewish lesbian bro?"

I giggled. "Hello, Noah. And just so you know, I'm pansexual, not a lesbian."

"You like… pans?"

"Common misconception. Pansexual means I like someone regardless of gender," I explained patiently.

"So it's just a fancy word for bi?"

I sighed, getting irritated. "Not exactly. Was there something you wanted, Noah, or did you just call to discuss my sexuality?"

"Yeah! So we're bros, right?"

"Um, sure, if that's how you would like to define our friendship."

"And you and Q are super close even though she's a bitch to you, right?"

"Yes, are you going somewhere with this, Noah?"

"Well I need your advice. I want to help name the baby, but Quinn won't listen to any of my ideas. What do I do to get her to take me seriously?"

"Has Mr Schuester taught you nothing?"

"If I say yes, are you gonna tell him?"

I went on, ignoring that comment. "What you need to do is sing her a song. Since you're hopelessly incompetent, I will help you find one after school tomorrow."

"I guess if you think that's what she'll go for…"

"She will."

* * *

I never saw it coming. To me, Puck is just this immature guy who got me drunk enough to have sex with him and then later learned my secret. Sure, he had his moments, like when he took me to Waffle House, and when he comforted me after Jesse came back, but in my eyes he would always be seen as nothing more than the guy who got me pregnant. And then he stepped up.

Singing 'Beth' was probably one of the sweetest things he ever did. It completely changed my view of him. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he couldn't have come up with it on his own. Then it hit me.

"Puck," I called when Glee was dismissed for the day. "Stay back for a second, will you?"

Rachel looked at me curiously, but I just handed over my keys so she could wait in the car.

Puck glanced back to make sure everyone was gone, then said, "I've heard that line before."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"That's close to what Rachel said when she ended up spilling the beans."

"Oh," I said, finally understanding. "So thanks. For the song."

"I just wanted you to take me seriously. I really want to have a part in the baby's life," he replied.

"It was sweet."

"Thanks."

"A bit too sweet for you, though."

He was silent.

"So was it Rachel?" I questioned.

He sighed. "How'd you guess?"

Of course it was her. "I recognized her style. I know it's glee club, but not many other people make public declarations through song."

"She said it's the easiest way to a girl's heart or something," he shrugged.

"That's Rachel."

"But I did come to her for help," he put in quickly. "It wasn't all her idea."

"Okay well, thanks," I said again. "I should go. I don't want to keep her waiting."

He nodded. "See you around, Quinn."

When I went to the car, though, she wasn't there. I hurried back inside, hoping the school wasn't already locked. Luckily it wasn't.

Finding Rachel in the auditorium wasn't a challenge. Except when I did, she wasn't alone. I quietly crept back out of the audience and made my way to the wings so I could listen.

The person with Rachel wasn't a boy, as I had expected. Instead, it was Shelby. It seemed that she was going through with my wishes and saying goodbye. Too bad I wouldn't be able to do what she wanted as well.

They sang a song together, 'Poker Face' I believe, and then Shelby was coming toward me. I quickly hid in the shadows to avoid her. It seemed as if she hadn't as she continued to the exit. She paused at the door and then I heard, "Take care of her for me, Quinn." It was just loud enough for me to hear, and then she left through the door.

* * *

I was looking at the gold star cup Shelby had left for me when I felt arms wrap around me from behind. I leaned into her, having recognized her immediately as Quinn, and let my emotions take over.

The tears started falling. "She's gone, Quinn."

"I know."

"Will… Will you tell me a story?" I asked, wanting nothing more than to escape into another world.

"From the book?"

"No, something else."

Quinn let out a sigh and was silent for some time before she started. "Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a sad little girl. This girl's name… was Lucy."

I gasped. Was I finally getting the story of her past?

"She was a princess, and lived in a huge castle, but she was very lonely. None of the kids of the court would talk to her because they were afraid of her father, the cold king. It also didn't help that she wasn't very pretty.

"Then one day, the king decided to expand his kingdom to another land. So he took his family and moved them to another castle. Lucy, in hopes of becoming friends with the kids of this court, completely changed everything about her. Her brown hair was changed to blonde to reflect the other princesses she had seen. Her reading glasses was destroyed, replaced with special things a wizard enchanted for her. Her mother set her to work that summer in hopes that she would have a more trim figure. Then, at the end, Lucy changed her name to Quinn so that no one from her past would ever be able to find her.

"After her transformation, she met a beautiful princess named Rachel." She squeezed me tighter at this. "And she fell in love immediately with Princess Rachel, who loved her back. Little Lucy wasn't so lonely anymore with Princess Rachel. Eventually, the two ran away to the kingdom of Broadway, Rachel's kingdom, where they got married, had some lovely children, and lived happily ever after. The end."

I turned around in her arms to kiss her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I thought for a moment. "Do you really think that will all happen and we'll live happily ever after?"

She smiled at me. "I do."

We would have to brave a storm of hurt beforehand, but she would end up being right.

* * *

**Song: Caught In The Lie by Michelle Chamuel**

**A/N: This is my first day off of school and musical rehearsal/set building in a while, so what better way to celebrate it than posting one of my favorite chapters? It's really a surprise to me how many positive reviews this story has gotten since I last posted. **

**That being said, shit is gonna go down in the next chapter, so I hope you enjoyed this one.**


	32. There's a Fine, Fine Line

_"There's a fine, fine line, between a lover and a friend_

_There's a fine, fine line, between reality and pretend_

_And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb_

_There's a fine, fine line between love_

_And a waste of time."_

**Centered around Funk.**

"So I haven't seen Jesse around lately," I noted. We had just woken up from a nap and she was still wrapped around me.

"Mm," she hummed noncommittally, burying her face even further into the crook of my neck. She was so close I could feel the vibrations as she hummed.

"That's not an answer."

I felt her smile against my neck. "You didn't ask a question."

"Someone has developed some snark."

"I learned from the best."

Untangling myself from her, I sat up. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult."

She smirked. "Neither, because I obviously learned everything I know from Santana." I hit her with a pillow, and she giggled. "Just kidding!"

Falling back into the pillows beside Rachel, I grumbled, "You better be, after I defended your honor."

"What was that?" she asked, propping herself up on one arm so she could look me in the eyes. I had never told her about my fight with Mack.

"Nothing!" I cried before hiding in the pillows.

"Do I need to tickle you to get it out of you?" I felt her hands ghost along my sides, and I had to repress a shiver.

"I'm not ticklish."

I knew she was grinning without even being able to see her. "Oh, Quinn. Don't lie to me."

Suddenly her hands attacked, and I couldn't stop giggling. It was only when I was out of breath that I gasped, "Stop! I'll tell you!"

I sat up again, and Rachel looked at me expectantly. "So you remember when you wore that hideous stuffed animal costume to school for glee?" She nodded. "Well, I kind of got in a fight with some skank that made fun of you."

"Quinn!" she cried, hitting me on the shoulder with a pillow. "You're pregnant!"

"She was pregnant too!" I defended.

She hit me again. "Quinn! That doesn't make it okay!"

"Sorry that I couldn't take them talking about you anymore! This is why I didn't want to tell you!"

Rachel sighed, showing the hint of a smile. "Did you at least win?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I did."

"Good. Just don't do it again while you're pregnant." After one last hit with the pillow, she tossed it away and pulled me in for a kiss.

"Kisses are not helping me curve my desire to do it again," I commented.

"Maybe I should just ban them then."

I scoffed. "Like you would."

She jumped off the bed. "Since kissing is banned, time to do homework!"

I groaned and reluctantly got up as well.

We wouldn't kiss again for four months.

* * *

Truth was, I was extremely worried about what it meant that Jesse hadn't gotten in contact with me in weeks. It was even more worrying that he wasn't at school anymore. The whole Shelby drama had eclipsed this, but now that she was gone, I couldn't help but think about Jesse.

Where was he? Why hadn't he called? Why hadn't he showed up at my house to piss Quinn off?

One day at glee rehearsal, I got my answer.

There he was, up on our stage, with his patent smirk and Vocal Adrenaline. And everything fell into place.

He played me.

Shelby probably cooked up this whole thing in an attempt to contact me. He didn't pick me over all the other girls because he liked me the most; he picked me because I brought him the most profit. He used me just like I used him. So why did it hurt so much?

There was anger, lots of anger, but the tears forming in my eyes were real.

* * *

Rachel was despondent as we drove home. I didn't push her to talk. I was a bit preoccupied by my own thoughts.

Jesse and Rachel were in a _fake_ relationship. She had been using him as part of her master plan that I still didn't really understand. That meant that there shouldn't be any feelings involved.

This wasn't how one reacted to someone they didn't have feelings for, no matter how good the actor.

She hurried inside the second my car stopped in the driveway. I tried to catch up, but I wasn't fast enough. I was met with a closed door as she barricaded herself in her room. She obviously didn't want to talk about it.

I sighed. "Rachel…"

There was no response.

"Can you please just tell me why you're upset?" I begged.

Still no response, but I could hear sniffling. My stomach twisted from the fact that Rachel was crying and I couldn't hold her.

"Okay, well, I'm just going to sit out here against the door until you do decide to let me in, both physically and mentally."

Nothing.

I collapsed against the door. I was determined to talk to her, even if it meant waiting hours.

After about ten minutes, I heard the door on the lock click. I sat up so as not to fall back when the door opened. Seconds later, the door opened to reveal a red-eyed Rachel looking like she was ready to fall to pieces at any moment. I immediately got up and tried to pull her into a hug. She wouldn't let me.

This confused me. "What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Tears appeared in her eyes. "You're going to hate me."

I shook my head. "I could never hate you, Rachel. I love you."

Rachel took the remaining steps and gripped me tight in a hug. "Please don't leave me."

"Never."

She didn't end up telling me what was wrong. After she stopped crying and her death grip on me lessened, we moved to the bed. I consented to watch _Funny Girl_ because I was afraid saying no would send Rachel back to tears, so I spent the next couple of hours with Rachel clinging to me, watching as Fanny Brice once again chose love over career only to have it blow up in her face. God, I hated _Funny Girl. _But I would do anything for her.

"Quinn," she whispered during intermission.

"Yes?"

"I…" Rachel hesitated. "I think I had feelings for Jesse."

I froze. It was a thought that had always been at the back of my mind, but I ignored it in favor of replaying all the times Rachel had told me she loved me. "What?"

I tried to move away from her, but she just gripped me tighter. "Please, Quinn. You promised." But I struggled more and finally got away from her.

"I knew this would happen," I murmured.

She looked at me questioningly. "You knew I liked him?"

"I knew you would leave me for someone else when I got fat," I replied quietly. It was one of my fears; that Rachel would just stop liking me and run off with someone else because of the baby. "I just can't believe it's _him._"

And in a surprising turn of events, she quickly jumped to defend Jesse. "What's wrong with him?" Then she seemed to realize what she was saying and what I had said before that. "Even if we were together and I could leave you, I wouldn't leave you for _that_, Quinn. You should know that about me by now."

I scoffed, ignoring that second comment. "What's wrong with him? What's not wrong with him! He's arrogant and self-centered and_—_"

"The male version of me." She cut in.

"Except you actually have a heart," I argued. "There's no way in hell you would pull the kind of stunt he did today."

"Just because you haven't incurred the wrath of me doesn't mean I can't do it. I am most certainly capable of something of that caliber," she said coldly.

I got out of the bed and started trying to find a coat. "That's great, Rachel. Sounds like you two are just perfect for each other. Why don't you just run off into the sunset and sing _Next to Normal_ with him."

"Maybe I will!" She fired back.

"One problem: he broke up with you," I smirked at her.

She gaped at me before finding the words and throwing a pillow at my head. "You're insufferable, Quinn Fabray!"

"Right back at you!" I replied, packing my Cheerios duffle. "And before I go, I feel I should tell you something."

"What exactly is that?"

"This movie," I gestured to the tv, which was still playing _Funny Girl._ "I've never liked this movie. At all. But I endured it for _you_."

Her expression softened, but I was so angry and hurt that I wasn't sticking around. I slammed her door shut and made my way down the stairs.

What I wasn't expecting was to be stopped by the Berry men. They were both standing in the way between me and the door.

"Sounds like you two had quite the fight," Leroy commented.

"Please just let me go," I pleaded with them. "I can't stay here."

Hiram twirled my car keys around his finger. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Like it or not, Quinn, you've become our child too. And as your parents, we're not letting you go."

I sighed. "I can't be around Rachel right now."

"Then take the spare room," Leroy offered. "Or if that's not far enough away, the basement futon is supposedly very comfortable."

"The basement's probably better," I muttered. "But why now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've run away from here after fights plenty of times. Why are you stopping me now?" I questioned. It was well-known fact that Rachel and I had fights quite often.

Leroy sighed. "Honey, we've never seen you this angry before."

"If we let you go now, you'd probably never come back," Hiram added.

As much as I hated to admit it, they were probably right. "I guess I'll be going to the basement."

"You don't need to brood," Leroy said.

"How about a movie? Maybe a nice rom com to keep the mood light?" Hiram suggested.

I smiled. "As long as it's not _Funny Girl."_

* * *

That wasn't how I planned for things to happen.

I was honestly crying not because of Jesse, but of how bad it was going to hurt Quinn if I told her. She was always so scared of him winning my heart, and I had always assured her that it would never happen. Now that it sort of had, well, I knew it would destroy her. Which was why I had hesitated in telling her.

I hadn't meant to defend Jesse; it just came naturally. She was always saying bad things about him, and so I had to correct her every time. This time was no different, except for the tone in which I delivered it.

I paced around my room, trying to get the anger out. I shouldn't have gotten angry. If anyone was allowed to be angry, it was Quinn. I didn't want to be with anyone but her, but she was now convinced I loved Jesse. I had let my anger plant falsities in Quinn's mind, and it would be a small wonder if she ever trusted me again. I was the one person she trusted above all else not to hurt her, and I had shot that to flames. And for what? A single fling that was over before it ever started?

This wasn't how we were ending. I wouldn't lose Quinn to something as trivial as this. I wrenched the door open and sprinted down the stairs, fully prepared to hunt for Quinn and make her listen to me. Then I froze upon seeing the sight on the sofa.

Quinn was curled up, clinging to Daddy and crying into his shoulder. Dad was rubbing comforting circles on her back. It looked as if _Baby Mama_ was playing on the tv which… really? _Baby Mama?_ My dads couldn't have picked a more comforting movie? None of them were paying it any attention though.

But shouldn't my dads be holding _me_? Shouldn't they be attempting to comfort _me_ with the hugely inappropriate but highly funny _Baby Mama_? My inner diva appeared and brought the anger back with it.

Before I had time to process, I was speaking my mind. "While this is a lovely display of Quinn showing her feelings to someone other than me for once, shouldn't I be the one you're comforting? I am your daughter, after all."

They all looked over at me. While Daddy looked tired, and Quinn utterly heartbroken, Dad shot a warning glare at me. Daddy was the one that spoke, though. "Quinn is our daughter too, sweetheart."

"But she isn't," I pointed out.

"Rachel_—"_ Dad warned one final time.

"No she's right," Quinn said, wiping her eyes before getting up, despite my fathers' protests. "She's your real daughter, and she's the one who just lost her precious boyfriend. I'm just gonna go to the basement."

"Quinn, you don't need to be alone right now," Daddy insisted, but she just shook her head.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for the help." And with that, she was gone.

Dad rounded on me. "That was highly insensitive of you. I thought we raised you better than that, but apparently not."

"You're my fathers; not hers."

"Quinn has been in this house since December and has no one else; she's our daughter now until she moves out, which may be sooner than later if you keep going like this."

The anger drained from me, and the realization of what I just did hit. Tears started forming in my eyes, and Dad wrapped me in a hug, soon followed by Daddy.

"I'm messing everything up!" I cried into them. "I've been so stupid!"

"Yes we know," said Daddy. "That's why we chose to comfort Quinn first."

"Hey!"

* * *

I couldn't feel anything.

My mind was numb. My body was numb. Everything was numb, and I couldn't feel anything.

I spent the night equal parts sleeping and staring at the basement ceiling. Neither gave me much comfort, but they were ways to pass the time until I had to get up and face Rachel.

God, Rachel. How was I supposed to be in the same room as her?

A trickle of emotion was let in around 3am, and the dam broke. I was crying within seconds.

Rachel loved _him._ Not me. _I _was the one she was playing. Not him.

By morning the tears were gone, and I had hardened into a bitter shell. I need not worry about what would happen when I saw Rachel, because I didn't feel anything but resentment.

When our eyes met in the kitchen, she looked like she wanted to say something to me, but for once in her life she held her tongue. Then she left without eating, hurrying out of the house.

The anger at her steadily rose to a boiling point all day. So when Mr Schue asked for people to sing a funk number, I was more than ready to have a song to let everything out.

Not to mention it would drive Rachel insane that I was singing a song and she couldn't even pick it out. I never performed in glee, and it would be the worst funk number I could manage, just because I knew that it would push her over the edge.

Which meant I needed to call in a favor from my good friend, Mack. I would need backup dancers, after all.

* * *

I skipped glee that day.

"You're such a hypocrite," Quinn said when she got home and we first saw each other.

"No more than you," I stated calmly, getting off the couch to meet her halfway in the hall.

She continued on, ignoring my comment. "You nag and nag me every day about how you want me to sing a solo in glee, but the one day I do, you decide to skip out."

"I had some things I needed to think about," I replied. This wasn't exactly a lie, but I honestly didn't think I could watch her sing her heart out about hating me.

"What? Like Jesse?" she practically spit. This was the scary Quinn from school, not the girl who loved me.

"No, not at all. In fact, I would like to talk to you about_—_"

But she cut me off. "Save it, Rachel. I'm through listening to your lies."

"Quinn, I never lied to you, I swear_—_" I stopped when she closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears, a pained expression on her face.

I tried to lower her hands. "Quinn, I love you."

She recoiled as if I shocked her. "Stop lying!"

"I'm not_—"_

"Yes you are!"

Suddenly my dads were there, standing in between us. I had completely forgotten they were home.

"Okay girls, it's time we get over this spat," Dad said. "Rachel. There was something you wanted to say?"

"Yes," I sighed. "Quinn, I'm so sorry that my actions hurt you. I truly never meant to hurt anyone, least of all you. And please know that I never lied, I do love you, and even though I'm sure my actions cause you to develop an unlovable complex and you won't believe me, I can assure you that it's not a lie. It's never been a lie."

For a second, I could tell that Quinn wanted to believe me. Then her eyes, her beautiful eyes that I loved so much, hardened and she muttered, "Fuck you." Before running out the door.

My fathers looked to me, wanting to know what I was going to do. Should I go after her? Should they go after her? Should we wait for her to come back?

I ran after her, having let her run away one too many times. Except I had waited too long. Her car was already backing out of the drive when I opened the door. The only thing I could do was watch her drive away and hope that she would come back.

She wouldn't.

* * *

I spent the night at Puck's house, because with one look at my face he knew better than to ask questions. Brittany would've asked questions. I just wanted to have someone hold me so I might have a chance at sleep. And he did that, because he was obligated to. He said he was in love with me, but I knew he just had to do it because I was having his baby.

No one loved me. My parents didn't, Puck didn't, and now Rachel, the one person I actually believed loved me, it turned out she didn't either. I was completely alone, except for the baby growing inside me, and she only loved me because I was her source of food.

I floated through class the next day, my mind completely empty. Rachel kept glancing over at me, giving me sympathetic looks, but that's all it was: sympathy. Was that all it had ever been? _Poor pathetic Quinn, friendless and closeted. I, Rachel Berry, caretaker of all, must help her. I will date her and have her fall in love with me and then she'll come out and I will have done a good service to the gay community. Though it will all be a lie. I myself will fall in love with arrogant, asshole boys who will break my heart, but hey, guess it's karma working for breaking poor Quinn's heart._

I smirked at my inner Rachel Berry and how accurate it probably was. Then I skipped glee to hang out in the library. Rachel would bitch about me skipping so close to Regionals, but she had skipped yesterday, and besides, I didn't plan on speaking to that hypocritical liar anytime soon. I would've just gone back to Puck's, but he drove me to school in his truck that morning.

Someone found me in the library. I saw the person out of the corner of my eye, and I got scared that it was Rachel there to yell at me. When I looked up, I found it to be only Mercedes. I sighed inwardly in relief.

She offered me a new place to live: with her. I wouldn't have to go back to Puck's or Brittany's or even Rachel's. It was perfect.

I jumped at it.

* * *

Quinn showed up during dinner. I guess she believed she could sneak in unnoticed. At the sound of the door opening, though, we all stood up.

I hadn't expected her to come back so soon. She had stayed away much longer before, but she probably needed clothes, having left with nothing.

All three of us went into the hall only to run into Quinn and Noah. She looked shocked at seeing us, but quickly recovered. "Um, Mr. Berry, Mr. Berry." This was the first time she hadn't called them by name in a long time. "Thank you for putting up with me for the last few months. I know I've been a burden."

"Nonsense," Daddy interjected.

Quinn smiled weakly at this, and continued. "I'm moving out. I don't feel it would be appropriate to stay here anymore, and Mercedes has offered me a room at her house."

I froze. I thought this was just a fight and that we would be back to normal in a couple weeks. Obviously I was wrong.

It was over. Quinn was leaving, and it was over.

"Quinn, please stay. We can work this out," I begged, but she just shook her head.

"I'm gonna get my things, and I brought Puck to help me. It shouldn't take long, and then I'll be out of your hair."

Dad sighed. "If you feel that's best, Quinn, then so be it. We won't stop you. Just remember that you'll always have a home with us." Then he turned to Daddy and me, and I could tell he was trying to be strong for us. "Let's go back to dinner."

The two of them went, but I didn't follow. Instead, I trailed Quinn upstairs to our room, stopping Noah on the landing.

"Let me talk to her first," I whispered.

He nodded in understanding. "I'm still cheering for you two."

* * *

My things were scattered around Rachel's room. It was amazing how much I had made this place my home in just a couple short months. It killed me to leave, but I knew it would hurt even more to stay.

I picked up a picture of us that had been taken on Rachel's birthday after we got back from our date. Technically, it was mine. To take and remember, or leave and forget?

As I was contemplating this, the door opened. I expected it to be Puck, come to help me. So I didn't think anything of it.

Then I felt arms wrap around me from behind, and I heard her voice right by my ear. "We were so happy then. I want that back."

I extracted myself from her arms and turned to glare at her. "Then ask Jesse, or Finn, or one of the other guys you like. I'm sure they'll take you on even better dates."

"I don't want them. I want you," she whispered, catching my eyes.

I was so close to the breaking point. Even though I was trying desperately hard not to be, I was still in love with her. So I wanted to believe her.

I sighed in defeat. "Give me time to figure everything out."

She agreed immediately. "Of course."

"But I'm still moving out."

Her face fell a bit. "Quinn_—"_

I stopped her. "No. This is my only offer."

"Okay."

And that's how it was.

* * *

Before I tell you about what happened next, you have to understand how lonely I was. Quinn wasn't talking to me, and she was the only person who normally tolerated me. I had practically no one.

So it was out of complete desperation that I answered the phone call from Jesse. It was the relief that someone wanted me that had me running to the parking lot to see him. I still had one friend.

Then the first egg hit.

* * *

I was at my locker when I got the call.

I looked down at it to find Rachel calling. Why couldn't she just wait like I told her? I had half a mind not to answer, but something in me told me to; that Rachel wouldn't break my rule for something insignificant.

"Rachel, one day is not enough time," I said as a greeting.

I heard her whimper. Something was wrong. "Quinn."

I shoved my books back in the locker. Rachel was more important than class. "Where are you?"

"English hall b-bathroom," she whispered, and I was off.

She had probably been slushied again. But she never sounded so pitiful before. I walked faster.

Rachel was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, covered in eggs, and looking completely helpless.

"Rachel," I breathed out, my heart breaking at the sight of her. She glanced at me, and I could see the tears in her eyes.

I instantly went to work cleaning Rachel up. I didn't ask how it happened or why it happened, I just accepted it for the moment. As angry as I was at her, she needed my help.

We were silent for most of it. Rachel let out the occasional whimper, but otherwise kept quiet.

When we were finished, that's when I needed to hear.

"So have they graduated from slushies?" I asked lightly.

She shook her head, not looking at me.

"Then what happened?" I questioned, getting a bit more serious.

"Jesse," she whispered, and if it hadn't been so quiet in the bathroom, I probably wouldn't have caught it.

"He did this? Just wait until I get_—"_

But she stopped me by finally looking at me, and she looked immensely guilty.

"I_-_I did this to myself," she admitted. "I answered the phone call and ran to him and they were all waiting for me."

My thoughts stopped. She went back to him. After everything that happened, after everything she said, she went back to him. I slowly stood up from my seat beside her on the cold tile floor.

"Quinn no_—_" She reached out for me, but I avoided her hand.

"I don't need to think anymore, Rachel," I stated coldly. "You just made up my mind for me."

"Quinn please_—_" She stood up too. "Just let me… I was lonely! I just wanted to believe that someone still wanted to be my friend!"

"When has Jesse _ever_ shown interest in being friends?" I asked, and she looked down. "Exactly. So what is it that makes him more appealing than me? His singing ability? His body? The fact that he's a boy?"

"Nothing, I love y_—_"

"But you love him more, right? You ran straight back into his arms, just because I needed a little time."

"Quinn I_—_"

I wasn't letting her get a word in. I would not break this time. If anyone broke, it would be her. "So tell me why you love him more? I bet it's because he's a boy, and loving me would be enforcing the stereotype that gay parents create gay children."

Rachel snapped. "Maybe because he wasn't afraid to date me publicly! He was proud to have me as his girlfriend, and didn't treat me like some dirty little secret because he was afraid of backlash! And while he never would be perfect for me like you, Quinn, at least he would date me!"

I felt myself dying inside, but I kept going. "I knew you would never wait around! All these promises of waiting for me, and it was all a lie."

"I want to wait on you, but you're not even trying! Half the glee club knows and you're still scared! Not to mention this ridiculous game we've been playing!"

"I wanted to stop before Christmas! You wanted to keep going!" I argued.

"I did that for you! I knew you weren't ready to come out yet!"

"I was! But you were so focused on Finn you didn't notice!"

"You were ready to run away when Tina saw us!"

"I would've gotten over it but then you went on dates with Finn and started seeing Jesse!"

"I wanted to win!"

"You wanted to get with Jesse!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did! You told me!"

She was silent, not having a response. I had won. So I left her there, just as I had a year ago. Only this time we were more angry than broken.

* * *

Weeks went by without contact. Not that I hadn't tried. I called her every day, sent texts, and tried to talk to her in school. I even called Mercedes's house a couple times a week. It was like I no longer existed to her.

This was what I was thinking about while in the grocery store picking up stuff for dinner. I was in a hurry and so preoccupied with thoughts of how to get to Quinn that I didn't even notice when I ran my cart into someone else's.

"Sorry," I murmured, barely glancing up at the blonde woman.

"Rachel?" I stopped. That voice sounded too familiar. "Rachel Berry?"

I looked back up to find myself face to face with Judy Fabray. This was a surprise. "Hello, Mrs. Fabray."

Judy's shocked expression turned into a glare that reminded me of Quinn. "So it _is_ you. I knew it. You're the reason that Quinnie was corrupted. I never should've let you in the house, but I thought a friend would be good for her. Obviously I was wrong. You and your gay dads taught her your immoral ways and now I've lost her."

No. I was not going to put up with this. "If anyone corrupted her, it was you and your husband. My fathers and I are nothing but kind to her. We gave her a place to live when _you_ kicked her out. _You _gave her an unlovable complex. The blame goes to no one but you, and I don't appreciate your accusations in a public setting."

Judy gaped at me for about 30 seconds before changing tactics. "Will you- will you please just tell her I'm sorry and that I love her?"

"That's something you should tell her." I didn't feel like explaining that I was no longer in contact with Quinn.

She looked pained. "Quinn won't take my calls… Please, Rachel."

I would try, but she didn't have to know that. "Goodbye, Mrs. Fabray."

When I got on the next aisle, I sent Quinn a text.

_Just ran into your mom. She says she loves you, and so do I._

There was no response.

* * *

**A/N: Well, we all knew it had to happen sooner or later. Hope the little bit of fluff at the beginning was enough to handle all the angst.**


	33. The Mess I Made

_"I should've called you out_

_I should've said your name_

_I should've turned around_

_I should've looked again."_

**Centered around Journey To Regionals.**

Rachel would literally not stop calling. It had been weeks since the incident, and she had not let up at all. And it hurt. I really wanted to answer, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. A part of me was furious and didn't want to ever talk to her again, but another part just wanted to accept her apology and go back to her house to cuddle with her.

Then one day Mercedes decided to ask about it.

"Quinn," Mercedes started, coming into my new room after knocking. She was holding the house phone. "This is the fourth time Rachel has called this week! Why don't you just talk to that girl before she has a stroke?"

"I don't want to talk to Berry," I mumbled, trying to keep up appearances. "Besides, she probably just wants me to duet with her in glee, or get my 'occasionally sharp' voice perfect for Regionals."

"Just talk to her," Mercedes insisted. It was what Puck had been begging me to do for a while.

"I can't," I heard my voice crack, and knew that I wasn't up for acting.

"Why not?"

It didn't matter anymore. It was over, and there was no one she could tell that could make it worse. "Because I'm in love with her," I whispered.

Her eyes widened for a second before she laughed. "That's a good one, girl. Make sure you save it for April Fools."

"I'm serious." I got a little louder. "I'm in love with Rachel Berry and have been since the day I met her." After I admitted it, I completely broke down crying because there was no hope left for me.

A beat passed, and then she was hugging me. "I don't know what the hell is going on," she whispered after a while. "But it's going to be okay."

"It's not. It will never be okay again," I cried into her.

"Why not?"

She didn't get it. She didn't know the whole story. And I wasn't really in the mood to tell her detail after happy detail of our time together.

So I only told her what was necessary.

And her response?

"Everything makes so much more sense now, and yet it doesn't. Why the hell would you and Rachel put yourselves through this?"

I shrugged, having used up the last of my ability to talk on telling her the story.

"Seriously, Quinn."

"Love." It was really the only word that could describe it.

"Ain't a love powerful enough for that," she stated, probably speaking more to herself than me.

The tears were coming back. "Obviously."

Then it hit her what she said. "Oh, Quinn. I didn't mean_—_"

"No, that's exactly what you meant," I replied, trying my best to put myself back together instead of reducing to a crying mess again. "And I… I've got to get over it."

"Yeah!" Mercedes confirmed with enthusiasm, probably happy that she finally knew what to say. "There are plenty of other people out there, and probably some that aren't near as annoying as her."

I laughed weakly before I felt my face crumple. "But that's what made her so adorable."

"Then there are plenty of people just as annoying as her!" Mercedes was quick to amend. "The point is, what you two did may have been out of love, but it was unhealthy. That's why it ended. You have to find someone that is good for you. With Puck and me for instance, that was never gonna work out. He's no good for me." She shook her head, as if to clear it of that experience. "We'll find someone."

I sighed. "You're right."

"Though we won't find each other. That may have happened with you and Rachel, and you know I love you, but we will never be that close," she stated.

This made me laugh again. She was just trying to cheer me up, and I recognized it. I pulled her in for a hug.

I was going to be alright. At least I hoped so.

* * *

My world was ending.

Sue Sylvester was going to be a judge for Regionals, whose victory decided whether New Directions had another year to compete. So glee club was over.

I failed a math test because of my inability to care about school anymore. So my chances of getting into Juilliard were over.

Worst of all, Quinn wouldn't even look at me, much less talk to me. So both my love life and only true friendship were over.

Which is why I will once again ask you not to judge my actions. I was desperate, and while I know that doesn't make it okay, I hope it at least doesn't make you hate me as much as I will come to hate myself in the days following.

In my delusional sense of desperation, I may have kissed Finn after he finished giving me a motivational speech about glee that might have had a compliment for me in it somewhere.

In the middle of a busy hallway.

With Quinn watching.

* * *

I was really getting better. I was moving on from Rachel and thinking that maybe, just maybe, there were other girls out there. Girls who I was willing to try to love as much as I had loved her.

Then she kissed him, and everything went to shit.

If she was going to kiss anybody other than me, it should've been the guy she admitted to maybe having feelings for; the guy that completely ruined our dysfunctional relationship. It should not have been the guy we both pretended to fight over for months for a stupid bet made only to pass the time.

She was over me. She was over me and as much as I tried, I couldn't successfully get over her. And it hurt.

I rushed to the bathroom after seeing them kissing, hoping that it would be empty and knowing it probably wouldn't be. It wasn't, so I continued to the auditorium, where I sat far away from where I first met her, and cried.

I realized something while crying in that auditorium: while I may never get over her, it would be okay, as long as I didn't let her draw me back in. I couldn't do that. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. If I let myself back in that situation, it would just be inevitable that I would end up back in the same position I was in then: crying in the auditorium while Rachel kissed a boy.

So I took steps to harden my emotional walls and build up my defenses. That way when I finally got up and went to class, I would be cool and collected once again, hiding behind a wall that not even the force of nature that was Rachel Berry could knock down.

She never did knock it down; she slowly chiseled it away until she could get back in.

My walls would never be strong enough, and honestly, I'm immensely thankful for that.

* * *

I really hadn't meant for it to be anything more than a kiss. Really.

Then I found myself about to take the stage with him at Regionals, and hearing him say he loves me. It made me think. What if Finn was as good as it was going to get? What if Quinn never loved me again?

It was very likely that I had lost Quinn forever. She wasn't going to stop ignoring me, no matter how hard I tried.

And so I had to make the decision that if Finn was really all I could have, then I should take him and be grateful. I may never have an intellectual conversation with him, but at least I wouldn't be alone.

So I let him into my life, and I have never regretted anything more.

* * *

Something changed during that performance.

At the time, I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that Rachel stopped looking sad. She was happy and joyful, and it wasn't acting. Most of all, she was no longer looking at me.

I didn't really have time to ponder over it, because right after we got off the stage, I ran into someone I thought I would never see again: my mother.

She called my name, and that stopped me in my tracks. I turned around to face her. "Mom. What are you doing here?" Then I realized that the only way she would be making contact with me is if somehow my father didn't know about it. "Is Dad okay?"

"I came to hear you sing," she admitted. "You were wonderful. I-I'm so sorry I missed all the other times you performed. Were there a lot?" I ignored her question, waiting to hear the full story. Dad wouldn't have just let her come to this. "I left your father. Well I-I.. I kicked him out, actually." I remember feeling immensely proud of my mom at those words. "He was having an affair with some tattooed freak. Quinnie, I want you to come home with me." As much as these words shocked me, I'm pretty sure they weren't the cause of what happened next. "I can turn the guest room into a nursery. Oh sweetie, say something."

"My water just broke," I managed to get out, and that was the end of that conversation.

Mom immediately sprang into action, saying she would pull the car around to the back of the building so we could go to the hospital. She told me to stay _right there_ and she would be back soon.

Tina walked by just as my mom ran off.

"Tina," I said, stopping her.

She looked concerned. "Yeah, Quinn?"

"Could you go let Mr Schue know that I'm having my baby, and I won't be able to make the awards ceremony?" I huffed out right before a contraction hit. I doubled over in pain.

Tina got wide-eyed. "Um, yeah sure. But you know we'll all come with you, right?"

"No!" I almost screamed, not wanting Rachel to see me like this. "You should all um… stay here."

"Quinn, don't be silly. You're part of our family. We want to be there for you," Tina said with a smile.

I wasn't smiling. "Just don't bring Rachel," I said. "Please, Tina. I don't care who else comes, as long as it's not her."

"Are you two fighting again?" she questioned. Rachel hadn't told her?

Then I heard two honks, which led me to believe my mother was outside. I was saved from having to explain our situation. I put on my best glare. "Don't you dare let her come, Tina."

She nodded. "Okay, okay. I'm sure she'll want to stay to watch the other groups anyway." I was out the door before half of this was said. Everything hurt and I needed that damn baby out of me as soon as possible.

* * *

I was halfway out the door to join the others on the bus when Tina stopped me.

"What are you doing, Tina? We need to get to the hospital for Quinn now!" I cried, but she wouldn't let me by.

"Are you and Quinn fighting again?" she asked.

I sighed, irritated. "Is now really the time to explore my relationship, or lack of one, with Quinn?"

"She said she didn't want you going," Tina admitted. "And I don't want her after me. So I think you should wait here."

This almost reduced me to tears. Quinn didn't want me there? I knew we were fighting, but I didn't think she would go this far, so as to ban me from going to the birth of her child while letting the rest of the glee club go on ahead.

She obviously was still immensely angry with me. I wasn't going to make it worse, though, and force my way onto the bus. So I just shrugged and said I would stay to watch our competition.

Vocal Adrenaline was good. The choreography for "Bohemian Rhapsody" was absolutely fantastic. Though the only thing I could focus on was the guy on stage and how if it wasn't for him, I would be at the hospital holding Quinn's hand while she yelled obscenities at Noah and gave birth.

No, it wasn't his fault. It was entirely mine. I let myself get so caught up in my plans that I didn't even notice when they stopped making sense and started being real. I was the one who had pushed her away, and I was still doing it, only now it was with Finn.

After Vocal Adrenaline's performance, a call came from the hospital. Tina told me the good news of how Quinn was sleeping after successfully having a baby girl. It was a stab in the heart that I was standing in the middle of a crowded entrance hall in a theater instead of in the waiting room with them. However, I kept it together and thanked her for letting me know.

Quinn was a mother.

And because I couldn't bear to be alone, I sought out my own mother.

I congratulated her on her team's performance and just to keep the conversation going, I begged her to come teach at McKinley. Of course she said no, she was tired of coaching glee, she wanted a life and a family. But of course that answer would change in a couple years.

Then she asked where the rest of my team was, but I would later learn that she was asking only about Quinn, because there was no way Quinn would let me talk to her. That's when I had to explain they were all at the hospital. Her expression turned to concern, and I knew I couldn't stay with her anymore. Why I thought it was a good idea to come find her in the first place, I didn't know. Every time I saw her I ended up wanting to cry by the end of it, and this was the worst.

So I left her there, and went back to wait for the results.

* * *

I'm not writing about the birth of Beth. That's just not happening. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life and I do not wish to relive it.

When I woke up, I was alone. They had all left, I assumed, to go back to Regionals. That was perfectly understandable, seeing as I had been asleep.

Then I realized someone was holding my hand, and I wasn't completely alone. I panicked, thinking that it might be Rachel, until I glanced over and saw that it was my mom. She was asleep in a chair beside me, but she hadn't let go of my hand.

When I moved, though, she stirred.

"Quinnie?" she murmured sleepily, opening her eyes and looking at me.

"Hey, Mom," I whispered.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" she questioned, concerned.

I shook my head. Something had been bothering me though, ever since I saw her at Regionals. "How did you know about Regionals?"

She smiled. "Your friend Rachel sent me tickets." I froze, but Mom continued on, not sensing my shock. "She's such a nice girl, even when people are complete monsters to her. I may not have thought so in the beginning, but I think you made a very good choice in friends."

I was ready to cry. It was because of Rachel that my mother was with me. Even when I was ignoring her, Rachel was still trying to fix my life.

How was I supposed to get over her when she kept doing things like this?

* * *

And… we lost.

So glee club was officially over.

I probably would've been more upset about it had I not missed the birth of Beth. Quinn was way more important than the club, and now I had neither.

Though that doesn't mean I wasn't upset about it. I was upset enough to accept Finn's offer to go out for ice cream when we got back to Lima. I knew they wouldn't have a vegan option, but I didn't have the heart to disappoint another person that day and remind Finn that as a vegan, I didn't eat ice cream. So I hoped that maybe they had gotten some vegan ice cream due to my many letters.

They hadn't.

So I spent my night equal parts vomiting and missing Quinn. There was no sleep to be had.

* * *

Puck came back, after the awards ceremony. He said he came to give me the bad news about us having lost at Regionals, but right after that he helped me into a robe so we could go on an adventure to find the baby. That's what he called it: an adventure. He was probably just trying to lighten up the mood about this probably being the last time we would ever see her.

We couldn't keep her, and he knew that. But I can tell when he saw her again that he was seriously considering trying to find a loophole.

"Do you want to keep her?" he asked, his eyes only on her, probably wondering if I was thinking the same things.

I was, but I didn't want to encourage him. "No. Do you?"

He didn't respond. That was all I really needed for confirmation of my theory.

"Did you love me?" I asked. It had been something weighing on my mind for a while. When we had sex, I was distraught over Rachel and drunk off my ass. I wanted to know whether it actually meant something to him, or if he just wanted to be able to say he had banged the president of the celibacy club.

"Yes," he replied, nodding his head. "Especially now."

I hated the fact that he was in love with me. There was no way anything would come of it, and the fact that his feelings hadn't been diminished yet by that really made me feel pain for him. Then I realized that I was basically in the same situation, except with Rachel.

I looked over at him, and he grinned at me, as if to say he knew that it was stupid for him to love me. I smiled back because yeah, it was. Anyone who loved me always ended up hurt.

Then I heard footsteps approaching, and my smile faded. I wondered if it was Rachel; I hoped it wasn't Rachel_._

It was close enough.

"Which one is yours?" she asked, and I looked over to see Shelby, Rachel's mom and the least likely person I thought would be there.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

She ignored my question, instead choosing to answer her own. "I see her now," she said, smiling. "She looks like you. Does she have a name?"

"No," I replied, right before Puck said, "Beth."

"Pretty," Shelby said, ignoring my statement again. "I like that name."

We all stood there staring at Beth for a while before she spoke up again. "Quinn, do you think it would hurt Rachel terribly if I adopted your child?"

Puck and I both just stared at Shelby. "No."

Puck glanced at me. "Actually, I think it would. Quinn's just mad at Rachel right now."

Shelby nodded in understanding. "Ah, so that's why Rachel was able to seek me out at Regionals." She gestured to Puck. "Would you mind giving Quinn and me a couple minutes alone?"

He nodded. "Sure thing. I'll just go get a snack from the vending machine. Q, you want anything?"

"I'm good, Puck. But thanks," I replied. He shrugged and went off in search of one.

"What are you and Rachel fighting about? Does she want you to come out?" Shelby gently asked once Puck was gone.

I shook my head. "Nothing like that. She um, she liked Jesse, when she was dating him. She was supposed to be using him for one of her master plans or something, but she actually liked him. And she was still kissing me and telling me she loved me at the time."

Shelby sighed. "So I guess this is all my fault."

I laughed lightly. "Yeah, it kind of is."

We stood in silence for a moment as she thought things over. "I think you should give her another chance. This isn't just because I'm her mother, though. When you two were together for just the few minutes in the auditorium that day, she looked absolutely in love with you."

"But she lied."

She shook her head. "Maybe she didn't lie. Maybe she was just confused. People get confused, you know."

"I don't know if it'll ever go back to the way it used to be," I admitted, looking back at Beth so I wouldn't have to look in Shelby's eyes. "Even if I do let her back into my life, I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the fear of her loving someone else again."

"You never know until you try."

Maybe one day I would let Rachel back in, but it wasn't that day.

I looked up at her again after a minute. "You can adopt her."

"What?" She was obviously confused about the abrupt change of subject.

"My baby. You can adopt her."

"But Rachel_—"_

"_I_ would feel better knowing she went to someone I know will take care of her, even if it means hurting Rachel's feelings down the line when she finds out. It is my baby, after all." Shelby was someone who I confided in; someone who gave me great advice when I needed it. She was also someone who I knew wanted desperately to be a mother, to have another chance at it.

"Okay."

* * *

**Song: The Mess I Made by Parachute**

**A/N: ****So that's it for season one of Glee. It only took me 11 months to get here. To clarify, the next chapter will be focusing on the last few months of sophomore year, since I think Regionals happens in March. The chapter after that will cover summer, and then we'll get into season two.**

**I would just like to point out that this is the first chapter in which Rachel and Quinn don't speak to each other at all. And, unfortunately, it's not the last. Sorry.**

**I probably don't do it enough, but I want to thank you guys for reviewing (and, well, reading too). Without some of the reviews I get from you guys, especially the longer ones with your predictions and your emotions, I probably wouldn't be all that inclined to continue this. Because like I said before, this story has eaten up 11 months of my life. But when I see a review where someone really just 'gets' this story as much as I do, and they're excited, it makes me want to write. I really wish I had the time to reply to everyone, but with writing this massive thing and school, I just can't do it (though I will answer any question you send my way on my tumblr, ellenfaucet).**

**So as a final note, I have a question for you guys. I was going to end this way back before they started sophomore year and season one of Glee, because I knew this was going to be incredibly long and angsty, but you guys wanted me to go on. Now that we've reached the end of season one, do you regret telling me to write more?**


	34. Hey

**A/N: More than any other time, you really need to listen to the chapter title song (or songs in this case) to fully understand this chapter. They're "Hey #1", "Hey #2", and "Hey #3/Perfect For You" all from the musical **_**Next To Normal.**_

* * *

"Rachel, will you be my girlfriend?"

There it was. The words I had been waiting so long to hear. There was no way for Quinn to deny it now; I had won the bet. Yet I felt absolutely nothing.

I couldn't go home and brag about it to Quinn, because Quinn wasn't there. She would never be there again. She was back at her house, probably being loved on by her mother for the first time in her life thanks to me.

There was no hope of getting back with Quinn, so why not see the bet out? Why not at least try to be happy with someone else?

If anything, it would be good for the newly-saved glee club. The two co-captains dating might boost morale and team unity. That's what I told myself, anyway.

"Yes."

* * *

Before I got kicked out, I really wanted a mom. I suppose I was like Rachel in that aspect. My mother may have been around, but that didn't mean she cared. She was hardly ever sober, and even when she was, she never cared about me.

I suppose you should be careful what you wish for, because when I moved back in with my mom, I got more than I asked for. She was always rushing around to get me what I wanted, probably trying to get rid of some of the guilt. She no longer left me alone either, instead opting to have "family bonding time".

It was nice the first week, but by the second week it was too much. I was literally making up dates to get out of the house. Most of the time I just went on long walks, but every so often I would head over to Brittany's or Puck's. That didn't happen a lot, though, because with Brittany I would have to endure Santana, and with Puck I would have to endure video games and talks about Rachel and/or Beth.

With spring break coming up, I knew I would have to get out. My overbearing mother, on top of my emptiness without Rachel and the baby, was enough to make me feel like I was suffocating in Lima. I knew I only had three options. One, I could stay at home and go through a million bonding exercises with my mom, which wasn't happening. Two, I could go to the beach with Santana and Brittany, who had already invited me, and be a third wheel for an awkward week, which also wasn't happening. Or three, I could drive up to stay with Frannie in Chicago, where she would somehow get me to talk about things I didn't want to talk about like she always did.

Let's just say that three sounded like the best choice at the time.

* * *

The first date happened a week before spring break. Finn had been saying all week how he had big plans for our first date as a couple.

Well, I suppose they were big plans for him. I had come to expect something a little better from my dates with Quinn, and even with Jesse.

I was wearing a big smile when he picked me up. That smile faded when we pulled into the parking lot of a BBQ joint. Then he started explaining how he has been having this craving for ribs for, like, weeks, and he thought that I would like to come along. I quietly put in that I was a vegan and would not be able to partake in the eating of ribs, nor did I want to. He brushed this off by saying that he was sure they had salads, or "whatever vegans eat" there.

I missed Quinn.

After a dinner of a slightly wilted salad and watching Finn shovel so much meat into his mouth that I didn't know how I was going to kiss him ever again, the date wasn't over. Oh no. He wanted to see the newest comedy at the movie theater. It was kind of crude and nothing I would ever watch on my own. If anything, I can be thankful that he was so invested in the movie that he didn't try to kiss me.

That came afterward, as we were sitting in his truck in front of my house. I politely declined, wishing he had been considerate enough to brush his teeth or even have a mint, before trying to kiss me so I wouldn't have to turn him down. Unfortunately, Finn has never been one for tact.

I missed Quinn.

The next date happened a couple days later. It was a school night, so I really didn't need to do much, considering the amount of homework we had and the amount of sleep I needed to be able to function in the morning. He assured me it would be worth it.

Long story short: it wasn't.

He wanted me to be a part of Puck's weekly Mario Kart tournament because Matt was sick. Having never played Mario Kart, I got out on the first round. Then I wasted two hours that I could've spent doing homework or watching a musical or _anything._ Except I got to spend it watching Finn yell at the television and completely ignore me.

I was up late that night struggling to complete Chemistry homework that I had no clue about. My mind had shut down after the first hour of Mario Kart, and wasn't capable of turning back on until in the morning.

The next day, as I walked through the halls like a zombie, I passed by Quinn. It was only a second, as we were headed in different directions, but it was enough.

I couldn't settle for Finn. I had experienced so much more with her. Sure, we had our spats, but who doesn't? We could get over this. It was just a matter of miscommunication, right?

Even if we couldn't go back to what we were before, it would be better than being strangers. So I started hatching a plan; a plan to win back Quinn Fabray.

Of course it would involve the art of song. What great plan by me doesn't?

* * *

"Quinn."

I heard someone say my name, and I had a fairly good idea who it was, but I wasn't opening my eyes. I wanted my nap to last for a couple more minutes, possibly another half hour; nothing good was on tv until then.

"Quinn, I know you're not asleep. I'm going to sit on your legs if you don't move them."

I groaned and moved my legs after a second, knowing she would be good on her word. After a minute, I opened my eyes to find my sister staring at me.

"Don't you have something better to do?" I asked her.

"Nope. I'm off all day, so it's time to tell me why you're moping around," she pressed. I knew it was coming. Ever since I got there, she had been more than accommodating, allowing me to just lounge around on the couch all day and watch the Buffy marathon. It was only a matter of time before she cornered me.

"I just gave birth, Frannie, and gave my baby away," I stated. "I think that's more than enough of a reason to mope around."

"But that's not it."

I scowled at her. "What makes you think there's more?"

She pointed at herself. "Big sister intuition." I rolled my eyes at her excuse for everything. "So tell me. Is it a boy? Please tell me it's not a boy, because you're in high school and no boy should make you this dramatic."

"It's not a boy," I assured her, laughing a bit.

"Then what? Do you have cancer or something?"

"Do you really think if I had cancer that I would be spending my last days watching television on your couch?"

She giggled. "Well, it is _you_."

I kicked her thigh, but this only made her giggle more. "So no cancer and no boys. Got it. What about Rachel?"

I froze completely. How did she know about Rachel? I was sure I had never mentioned her before. "W-what?"

She smiled at my reaction. "There it is. You keep saying the name 'Rachel' in your sleep. What's up with that?"

It varied from night to night, whether I would have nightmares or dreams about Rachel. Half of the time they would involve Beth as well, which just made them infinitely worse. But it never failed that Rachel would haunt me as I slept, whether we were living the perfect life or I was watching as she married Finn (glad that nightmare never came true).

"That's none of your business," I said defensively. There was no way in hell I was telling her about Rachel. That would mean coming out to her, and that wasn't happening.

"You made it my business when you decided to take up residence on my couch," she replied, all the teasing gone.

I sighed and sat up, knowing I wasn't going to be able to get out of it. "Rachel is, well was, my best friend."

"Let me guess: but she was a lot more than that," Frannie added. I started sputtering, not having expected her to be able to _guess_ my relationship with Rachel. "Q, are you having a gay panic? Is that what this is all about? Because let me tell you: you're definitely gay."

"I know that," I put in quickly before gasping at what I had just revealed. "Shit."

"Quinn, please. I've known you were gay probably before you even knew it," Frannie shrugged. I stared at her, horrified. If she knew, did that mean my mom knew? Surely she didn't because she never would've let me back in the house if she did. "So you and this girl Rachel, you're best friends, and you have all this sexual tension, so you kiss. And then you run away from her to my house for spring break because you're having a gay panic. Is that right?"

I laughed. If only it was that simple. "Not even close."

She groaned. "Then stop making me guess and just tell me what's going on!"

"Did you really know I'm gay?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"Yes, for some time now. The real question is how long have _you_ known you were gay?"

"Middle school," I replied automatically. Middle school was a dark time.

"Really? That's… kind of insane. Gosh, I remember what it was like living with Dad and hearing him bash the Berry's all the…" She stopped, a lightbulb having went off in her head. "Wait a second, isn't their daughter named Rachel?" I nodded. "And she's your best friend?"

"Was," I corrected.

This caused Frannie to openly laugh. "How the hell has Dad not killed you yet? Pregnant, gay, dating a Berry. I can't believe you're alive."

"I'm not dating Rachel," I replied defensively. "And Dad never knew about any of it except the pregnancy, which you saw how well that worked out."

"Okay, you're not dating Rachel. Why?" She prompted.

"Because she's a liar and a horrible person."

"Woah, tone down the anger there, little sis," she said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I thought she was your best friend?"

"Not anymore."

"Why?"

"She…" I sighed. We were getting nowhere. "I guess I should just start at the beginning. Back at freshman orientation…"

After I had finished my story, which Frannie was silent throughout, she said, "Quinn, you have to let some things go."

"You think I should just _forget_ that Rachel lied to me about Jesse?" I asked, my voice getting dangerous.

"No, not forget. Just forgive," she said quickly, trying to calm me down. "It sounds like you and Rachel were really close. Do you really want to give all that up because of one thing?"

"No," I grumbled, looking down at my hands.

"So just forgive her, okay? I'm sure she has a perfectly logical reason for not telling you sooner that she had feelings for Jesse. Maybe she didn't even realize it until it was too late. Just give her another chance, and allow her to explain things. Otherwise you're going to end up regretting it."

"But what if she does it again?"

Frannie smiled slightly. "Then you cut the bitch out of your life for good."

I giggled. "I'll think about it."

"You still love her, right?"

I hesitated, but then I realized, yeah, even after all this. "I do."

"Then don't give up just yet."

* * *

It took all of spring break to come up with, but I was sure it was the best course of action regarding Quinn. If it didn't work, then I didn't know what would.

Of course planning to win Quinn back didn't leave much time for other things. I hadn't left the house once since we got out of school Friday. Finn wasn't very happy with this, but I didn't really care at the moment. Quinn came first.

Saturday morning, I heard something hit my window. I put it off to a bird or very large bug, but then it happened again. And again. As I got up to check what it was, I secretly hoped it was Quinn. I hoped she was there with a guitar and a song, and I wouldn't even have to put my brilliant plan into action.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Quinn. Noah was there with a handful of rocks. I opened up the window and repressed a sigh.

"I hope that you haven't come to romance me, Noah," I called down to him.

He smiled. "'Course not. I know you and Q are forever."

I frowned at the mention of Quinn. "What are you doing here?"

"You've been stuck in that house all spring break. You need some fun, and that's where I come in," he replied.

"Your definition of fun and mine are completely different."

"Oh come on. Just trust me on this."

I contemplated it for a minute. "Why didn't you use the door?"

"I tried that! You didn't answer." Oh. My dads weren't home, and the fact that my room was soundproof prevented me from hearing the door.

"Fine. Where are we going?"

"You'll see!"

It turns out his idea of fun is not having a threesome or bungee jumping, but driving go-karts. When he pulled up in the parking lot, I gaped at him.

"What? It's fun."

"I cannot manage to correctly maneuver a kart on a video game! What makes you think I can do this?" He was obviously out of his mind.

"You've seriously never been go-kart racing?" I shook my head. "That's sad. I can't wait to smoke your ass!"

"Noah!"

It turns out that Mario Kart and actual go-kart racing are vastly different. There are no banana peels or turtle shells for me to watch out for when racing in real life. What surprised me, though, was that I was actually _good_ at this. After the first race, I managed to beat Noah every time.

We took a break when we ran out of racing tokens.

"So what was that you said about smoking my ass?" I asked, smirking at him as we sat down on a bench to watch a couple races.

"You're such a sore winner, Berry."

"I am not!" I cried. "I simply am reiterating on the fact that you said you were going to win, and you only beat me one out of five times."

He sighed. "Maybe we can have a rematch on Mario Kart?"

"Not happening. You have entirely too much practice on that for me to ever be able to win."

He smiled at me. "At least I can win at something."

For a while, we were quiet, just taking in the race. He was the one who broke the silence.

"What are you doing, Rachel?"

I looked over at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you dating Finn?" he asked, serious. "I know you're not enjoying it. Plus you're in love with Quinn."

I was hoping this wouldn't happen. I really didn't want to talk about this. "I don't think Quinn will ever love me again, though, Noah. I messed up."

"So? I mess up all the time and I'm pretty sure the chicks still dig me."

I grinned at his attempt to keep the conversation light. "Quinn is different. She's… special."

"So why are you with Finn?"

"He loves me, despite the fact that he can't remember the simplest details about me, and I don't know if anyone else ever will. And I'm not willing to live my life alone. So I'll take what I can get."

"Rach, we're in high school. You can't even drive yet. You've got plenty of time," he stated, and when he said it like that, it made me feel kind of silly.

"But what if he's the only one who will ever love me? What if I become famous and people try to date me just because of that? I'm just too trusting of people, and they can use that to their advantage like Jesse did."

"You still have college to get through before you get famous. I'm sure there will be plenty of chicks and dudes, and hell, even pans, who would love to date you. That is if you don't marry Quinn."

I laughed. "Like Quinn and I would ever get married. She hates me now, and she's much too afraid of the backlash that it would cause." Puck would remind me of this after I got engaged.

"There's still time. I'm working on getting Q to talk to you again. She'll come around eventually."

"I hope you're right," I looked over at him and smiled. "Thank you for this, Noah. This whole go-karts and pep talk. I think it helped."

"Any time, Jew bro."

* * *

The first day back was better. I felt like I was okay for the first time since my fallout with Rachel. I thought that maybe things would be okay.

Then I opened my locker, and a note fluttered out.

I grabbed it before it could reach the floor. It was typed out, so I couldn't tell who sent it. I had a pretty good feeling, though.

_Meet me in the auditorium during lunch, please._

I was about 80% sure that it was Rachel, seeing as the auditorium was our place, and no one else would include a 'please' when demanding something. Yet I still went for some unknown reason.

When I entered the auditorium, sure enough, there was Rachel at the piano. I could've walked out, and probably should've, but I didn't. I walked closer.

She didn't look up as I approached, even though I knew she had heard the door open. For some reason that made it even worse. It was like she had me under a trance, and I couldn't help but get closer to see why she wouldn't look at me.

Then she started playing, and I almost broke.

It was the opening to "Hey #1" from _Next to Normal_, something we had played numerous times together, but I was always the one who played it before. She never could play it on piano, yet somehow she was.

"_Hey,_" Rachel said in time with the music, taking on the role of Henry. She looked up at me, her eyes begging me to play along. So I did.

"_Hey_," Her eyes met mine for the first time in forever. I could've cried then and there.

"_I've missed you these days,"_ There was no acting involved in this. She literally meant every word, and it showed. "_I thought you might call. It's been weeks…"_

"_I've been crazed,_" I responded automatically.

"_Hey, hey…_" she continued. "_Have you been on the scene? Cause you look like a mess._" She was smiling when she sang that part, letting me know that she didn't really mean it, but she needed to follow the song. I steadily got closer.

"_Thanks, I guess_," I replied, adding in the right amount of sarcasm to portray Natalie.

"_Are you clean?"_

"_Well coming from you…"_

"_I don't do what you do."_

"_Okay, how did it start?"_

"_But you took it too far-"_

"_Oh I took it too far? Henry don't! Don't do this to me."_

"_Are we over? Don't say that we're over." _There it was again, that pleading in her eyes. I couldn't do anything but follow the song.

"_Don't you want us to be?"_

"_No, I want who I knew,_" she smiled again, and that's when I noticed there were tears in her eyes. "_She's somewhere in you."_

I broke the eye contact we had maintained throughout the last verse, and looked away. I still couldn't stand to see her cry, and if I wasn't careful I would be hugging her before I knew what I was doing.

So I wasn't facing her when she started singing again. "_Hey, say… Will you come to this dance?"_ I turned back to look at her questioningly, to see if this was Natalie and Henry, or Quinn and Rachel. I couldn't tell. "_It's some spring formal dance. It's March first, and it's cheese. But it's fun and it's free."_

"_I don't do dances."_

"_Do this dance with me."_

"_Goodbye, Henry."_ I sang the last note, held Rachel's eyes with my own for a moment, and then walked out.

The spell was broken, and I had to face the reality.

* * *

Phase one of the plan was complete, and it went about as well as I thought it would go. There were so many things that could've gone wrong: she could've not shown up, she could've left the moment she saw me, she could've refused to sing. I actually had a very long list of things that could go wrong that I made in the planning stage, but I lost it many years ago and so I won't be be able to attach it here. If I'm being honest, Santana probably found it one day and decided to burn it along with several other things, but she always denies having anything to do with the disappearance of my things.

Anyway, phase two was a lot less likely to go wrong, and so I don't have a list for that. It involved writing a note for Quinn any time I felt the need to talk to her or share something with her. They would just contain my daily thoughts on life that I would normally share with her but couldn't anymore since we weren't talking. It was a simple premise, but it should be effective in getting her to want to talk to me. That is, if she didn't throw them away unread.

The first day was kind of insane. I sent around 50 notes, which probably would be beyond creepy to someone else, but this was Quinn. I could've sent more, but I noticed in the next class that she looked ready to cry. I didn't want to hurt her, so I set the daily limit to 30.

That's what I did for the rest of the school year. I wrote notes. It wasn't until the last day that I started the next phase.

* * *

Rachel was very quickly driving me to the point of insanity. I wasn't able to concentrate on anything because in my backpack was a folder full of sticky notes with things like, "_Coach Patterson's class was a bore today, don't you think? I miss texting you during it and making fun of his accent."_ And "_I wish you hadn't switched Chemistry partners. Brittany is great, albeit she doesn't do much of the work, but she isn't the blonde I prefer working with. Plus Santana won't stop scowling at me from your table."_

Some of the worst, however, were the song lyrics. She would send these on plain white paper, and they were intricately designed, sometimes with little interpretations from Rachel, and sometimes with cute little drawings. It was immensely adorable, and it made my heart hurt.

With the last day of school approaching, I wondered what she would do. Would she start sticking them to my window at home? Would she mail me an envelope full of them every day? Would she just stop?

These thoughts plagued me until that Friday. The first half of the day resulted in zero brightly colored sticky notes. I was so discouraged that I almost didn't go check before lunch. Its a good thing I did, though, because there was a single white note identical to the first one I received.

_Meet me in the auditorium during lunch, please._

* * *

I didn't have to wait as long this time. The first time, lunch was almost over when she hesitantly walked in. I knew things were changing for the better when she arrived ten minutes into lunch period.

Everything started just like it did with "Hey #1". Only this time, when Quinn stepped on the stage I began to play "Hey #2". These _Next to Normal_ songs were what had eaten up the majority of my spring break. I wasn't as good at piano as Quinn, so it took time.

"_Hey," _I started once again, looking up at Quinn to meet her eyes.

"_Hey."_

"_So tomorrow's the dance,_" I sang, thinking of the final phase tomorrow. "_It's annoying I know. But let's go."_

She looked confused, which was just as well, as she replied,_ "Not a chance"_

"_Let me know you again."_

"_Not right now." _She turned away from me.

"_Okay when? Say wait and I'll wait."_

"_It's already too late."_

"_There's no way it's too late. There's no way_—"

She cut me off with a glare, just like she was supposed to. It was probably more emotional than she needed to be, as I doubt Natalie would have tears in her eyes. Then again, Henry probably wouldn't have tears either.

"_Will you listen? Just shut up and listen."_

"_Why do I get denied?"_

"_You remind me of me, and how fucked up I can be."_ She smiled and wiped her eyes as I played the instrumental interlude.

I started it back. _"Okay. Hey. Let's start over, clean slate," _I suggested as Henry, but I hoped Quinn could hear my pleading in it. _"I'll come by here at 8. If you show then we'll go. If you don't, well we'll see." _I shrugged, and she shook her head, still smiling.

"_You just don't give up."_

"_So don't give up on me."_ As I held the note, I noticed her backing away.

She sang her last verse of "_Goodbye Henry."_ Before walking off the stage and out of the auditorium.

Well, the scene was set, and now all I could do was wait.

* * *

I couldn't tell if Rachel was serious. Did she want me to break into the school on a Saturday night? Was she coming by my house on a Saturday night? I had no idea. All I knew was that "Hey #3" was going to happen in some way or another.

When I sat down to lunch on Saturday with my mom, she handed me a letter that answered all (well most) of my questions.

"This was in the mail for you, Quinnie," she said after handing it over. There was no return address, but after weeks of sticky notes, I recognized the handwriting.

I jumped up from the table to go open it in my room, despite Mom's protests. Once safely in there, I tore into the envelope to find a single piece of paper that mirrored the other two. The only thing different was the time; this one was at 8, unsurprisingly. It also mentioned at the bottom that the stage door would be unlocked.

It looked like I would be breaking into the school at night. But more importantly, I needed to decide which sundress to wear.

The time quickly flew by, and before I knew it, I was walking through the stage door into McKinley at night. I expected Rachel to wait on me to get all the way out on the stage with her like she usually did, but she started mere seconds after I closed the door I had come through. "Hey #3" had a longer opening than the others, so it was okay.

When I walked out onto the bright stage, Rachel beamed at me with one of her smiles that I loved so much. I hesitantly smiled back, and she began the song.

"_Hey."_

It was getting to be a routine. _"Hey."_

"_You look like a star. A vision in blue."_ I looked down to make sure I had remembered to wear blue. Yup, I truly was Natalie in that moment with my blue sundress.

"_Oh I do?_"

"_And you are." _She grinned. "_Hey, you came."_

I shrugged, walking closer to her. "_Well I said that I might._"

"_I thought we were through. Me and you."_

I shook my head, sitting down on the piano bench beside her. I couldn't lose this truly spectacular person from my life because of one mistake. It was time to let it go. "_Not tonight."_

"_Will your mom be okay?"_ In the show, Natalie's mom kind of had a psychotic breakdown, and that's what Natalie and Henry discuss at this point in the song.

"_Well, she might be some day."_

"_But for now it's all fine?"_

"_She's still on my mind."_

"_Can you leave it behind?"_

"_Hey! Hey!" _I quickly stood up, getting into character._ "Am I crazy? I might end up crazy."_

She met my eyes. _"I'll be here for you."_

"_You say that right here," _I started pacing. _"But then give it a year, or ten years, or a life. I could end up your wife, sitting staring at walls, throwing shit down the stairs, freaking out at the store, running nude down the street, bleeding out in the bath."_ The music stopped. I automatically looked over at Rachel, who was watching me.

She started back. "_Perfect for you. I will be perfect for you."_ I walked back over to join her on the piano bench. "_So you could go crazy, or I could go crazy, it's true." _Rachel shrugged_. "Sometimes life is insane, but crazy I know I can do."_ She looked over at me, smiling faintly, before going back to it. _"Cause crazy is perfect, and fucked up is perfect. So I will be perfect."_

"_Perfect,"_ I echoed.

She glanced at me, and we sang the last line in unison.

"_Perfect for you."_

* * *

**A/N: Really hope all the _Next to Normal _didn't confuse you. I just felt like since that's Quinn's favorite musical and they sang those songs so often, that Rachel would work her plan around them. Also, I promise they actually start back talking in the next chapter! There will also be fluff.**

**So, I am done with school for the most part until September. I'm going to be spending the majority of that time writing, but it won't be purely OGAC. After I post the next chapter, I'm gonna be taking a bit of a break to work on some other faberry stories. I've been working on them since January, but they've been put to the side for OGAC. One is a Hogwarts-style faberry, which combines my two loves: faberry and Harry Potter. Another deals with a Taylor Swift album. Then the last one is really cracky and deals with the whole Rachel being split into two people, s1!Rachel and s4!Rachel, and s1!Rachel isn't very happy about how s4!Rachel is getting along, especially in the romance department. Anyway, none of them are near as long as this epic story, so all together they'll take about two months, which leaves me two months to work on this fic. So I guess since I've sort of been running on the same posting schedule as Glee episodes, I'll continue that and take a summer hiatus. When I come back, though, definitely expect weekly updates.**


	35. Up and Up

"_Cause it seems I get so hung up on_

_The history of what's gone wrong_

_And the hope of a new day_

_Is sometimes hard to see_

_And though I'm finally catching onto it_

_And now the past is just a conduit_

_And the light there at the end is_

_Where I'll be."_

I was snuggled into Quinn's side on the sofa at my house, and everything felt right. We weren't watching _Funny Girl_, since Quinn had revealed her extreme dislike of the musical the last time we watched it, but at least we were watching a musical.

"Quinn?" I murmured.

She looked down at me from the movie. "Yeah?"

"I missed this. Us."

She smiled and then looked away. "Me too."

"You know what I really miss?" I asked suggestively.

I felt Quinn stiffen. "And what would that be?"

"Kissing you," I stated before moving in for a kiss. She stopped me and held me back.

"Rachel, you know I can't." She had a pained look on her face.

I pouted. "But I don't see why not."

"I just can't do it again. Not yet." We had went over how Quinn could only do friends at the moment weeks ago right after I played "Hey #3", but I had hoped we would be able to have progressed to at least kissing after a couple weeks. Unfortunately not. She wouldn't even cuddle with me until last week.

"Quinn, I want us to be more," I stated, voicing my opinion at last. I had agreed with her about being friends back then, but it was never what I really wanted.

"So do I, but not right now," she stated firmly, leaving no room for compromise. "Please don't make this into an argument. I just want us to get back to best friends before we even think about doing more, okay?"

I sighed. "You're right. I know if the situation was reversed I would be entirely unforgiving."

She laughed at this. "You're joking, right? You're Rachel Berry, most forgiving person on the planet. You probably would've been angry with me for a grand total of one day before accepting my apology on the condition that I sing a song to you in glee."

I shoved her shoulder, my face sporting a grin. "Not true!"

She grinned back, and it was probably one of the first true smiles I had seen from her in a while. "You know it is. What song would you have made me sing? Probably something from _Funny Girl_ to apologize for saying I didn't like it."

"Not even close! All the Barbra songs are mine!" I cried.

"Well of course. I was thinking something more along the lines of Nicky's 'I Want To Be Seen With You Tonight'."

"Oh Quinn I can just imagine it now! You showing up in the choir room in a tuxedo to sing that song," I said before dissolving into a fit of giggles, burying my face into her shoulder.

"I guess it's a good thing the situation wasn't reversed then," she replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

It would take time, but we would get back to normal. I was sure of it.

* * *

"Quinnie! Your friends are here!" I heard Mom call.

After the whole mother-daughter bonding wore off, she began to push for me to bond with my friends. Apparently going over to Rachel's to watch a movie at least twice a week wasn't enough, so she took matters into her own hands. She called up Santana, Brittany, and Rachel for a sleepover.

Because it was the most disastrous idea ever, Rachel feigned sick and got out of it, leaving me on my own. She thought it was funny, but I would get her back somehow. If I had to listen to Brittany and Santana have sex all night, she should've had to as well.

I slowly made my way out of my room and down the stairs. About halfway down, Brittany ran up them and pulled me into a hug. "Quinn! I haven't seen you in forever! Have you been hiding at Rachel's?"

I felt my eyes widen at the mention of Rachel, as Santana had just appeared around the corner with their bags, and she did not know about what had happened with Rachel and me yet. If anyone didn't need to know, it was Santana. She would ruin me if she found out.

"No, B, just working out a lot," I replied, trying my best to stay calm. "Gotta get back into shape before Cheerios tryouts, right?"

Santana rolled her eyes at this as she made her way up the stairs. "Oh please. Like you're getting back on the squad." She purposely bumped into me with a bag before continuing upstairs.

"I will," I stated, following her. "And when I do I'll take Head Cheerio away from you."

"In your dreams, Q."

At this point in time, Santana and I still weren't really friends. We were held together by the common factor of Brittany. At least, we didn't call each other friends. Looking back on it, we kind of were, if you consider fighting all the time friendship.

"Okay now where's the booze. I want to gets my drink on," Santana said after collapsing on my bed.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned. She couldn't honestly think that we would be drinking with my mother there.

"Your mom promised drinks if we came," Santana replied. "Why else do you think I'm spending my Thursday night with you?"

"Oh no, she isn't really_—_" I was stopped as my door burst open. Mom walked in, beaming at me, carrying bottles from the liquor cabinet.

"So I thought we could start with_—"_

I cut her off. "No, Mom."

"But how else do you plan on having fun?" She looked confused. "And I'm supervising! I'm doing the responsible thing by controlling your alcohol intake!"

"C'mon, Quinn! I want to empty one of those so we can play Spin the Bottle!" Brittany cried, pulling me into a hug from behind.

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.

After a while, we really did end up playing Spin the Bottle. I made my mom sit this one out. She wanted to play, which was really surprising considering we were all girls, but I guess she was too intoxicated to care. Santana and I put her to bed before we played, despite her protests.

When we came back, Brittany was sitting on the floor holding a bottle, looking immensely excited. She gestured for us to sit down, and I reluctantly took a seat to her right, Santana taking the left.

"Isn't this kind of pointless, seeing as there are only three of us?" I asked, and Santana immediately shot me a glare.

"Would Truth or Dare be more your style, Q?" Santana questioned. "Probably not, seeing as you're both a coward and a liar."

"You're one to talk," I responded, and I knew that I had struck a chord.

Brittany pouted, completely oblivious to Santana's anger. "But I want to kiss Quinn."

If possible, Santana's anger grew. I was starting to fear for my life, and wished that Rachel was there to make sure Santana didn't kill me in the middle of the night. "I don't think S would like that," I said to Brittany.

"She's been wanting to have a threesome with you for like, ever, and this is the first step so," Brittany gushed, and Santana's anger dissolved into embarrassment as she buried her face into Brittany's shoulder.

"You're not supposed to say things like that," I heard Santana mumble, and I had to suppress the urge to laugh.

"What do you expect? I'm drunk!" At this, I did laugh. Brittany grinned at me.

Santana sat back up, took in a deep breath to compose herself, and then said, "Brit, if you really want to kiss Q, then all you have to do is dare her in Truth or Dare."

"Okay!" It was settled then. The bottle that we had drank all the alcohol for was useless. "Quinn, truth or dare?"

I smirked. "Truth."

Brittany frowned. "That's not the answer you're supposed to pick!" This bought me another glare from Santana, so I was quick to change my answer.

"Fine okay dare!"

Brittany's smile was back. "I dare you to kiss me!"

I sighed, and moved to give her a peck, hoping Santana wouldn't kill me for just that, but Brittany wasn't settling for that. Before I knew what was happening, I was in a full on make out session with Brittany. And it was good. Brittany was a spectacular kisser, but there was something missing. The emotions that I normally felt when kissing Rachel weren't there. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, because let me assure you, I did.

That is, until Santana forced us apart and I saw the look on her face. "Okay! That's enough! If anybody's gonna get her mack on with B tonight, it's not gonna be you, Q."

I rolled my eyes. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Santana replied automatically.

A sudden realization dawned on Brittany. "Quinn! That kiss is not gonna hurt Rachel's feelings, is it? I don't want you two fighting again. It's so sad when you fight."

"No it'll be okay," I was quick to say, hoping that Santana's intoxicated state would prevent her from catching what Brittany had let slip. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Santana wasn't _that_ drunk.

Santana's eyes narrowed. "What the hell is she talking about, Q?"

"Um…" I panicked. "Dare you to go jump in my pool right now!"

Unable to back down from a challenge, she jumped up. "You're on!"

I did nothing but dares for the rest of the night.

* * *

Yes, alert the presses. Fifteen years had passed and I had not been camping once. When Quinn learned about this "travesty" in passing, she promised me that we would go camping over spring break. Well, that was back before our big fallout, so it all but left my mind.

Apparently it wasn't the same way for Quinn.

One day at the end of June she called me over to her house, stating that I should hurry. I immediately dropped everything and rushed to her house. My mind jumped to the worst conclusions, imagining Quinn's mother having found out about her sexuality, or one of them hurt.

When I got there, Quinn wasn't the one to answer the door, which worried me even more. Her mom very calmly directed me to the backyard. I flew out the door, and there was Quinn, looking slightly confused at my probably crazed-looking self. I pulled her into a tight hug before she could speak.

"Thank goodness you're okay," I whispered in her ear.

"I never said I wasn't?" she replied before breaking the hug. I slapped her on the shoulder. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For making me worry!" I hit her again for good measure before she backed up.

"Sorry! I just wanted you to come over to see my surprise."

It was only then that I took notice of the surroundings. Of course there was the pool, but after that where the grass started there was a tent set up near the fire pit.

"Are we camping?" I questioned, a bit hesitant. I had never been camping, so I had no idea.

She smiled at me. "Yes. I thought I'd make good on my promise. Better late than never, right?"

I pulled her back into a hug, the excitement hitting me. The excitement was gone after about an hour.

"Quinn it's so hot," I whined. "Can't we just go inside for a little bit?"

She looked up from where she had been gazing into the fire. I could see the sweat beads on her, but it didn't seem to be bothering her. "No, we're in the wilderness."

"But we're not!" I pouted, which I hoped would work on her. It only caused Quinn to roll her eyes. "Your mom is right there in the kitchen window waving at us!"

Quinn ignored her mother's waving. "Use your imagination, Rach."

"I've been _imagining _I'm in the snow for about ten minutes, and yet I'm still sweating. Your imagination only works so far."

Suddenly Quinn wore an impish grin. "Close your eyes, lie down, and try again."

"Quinn…" I didn't like that look on her face.

"Just trust me." I sighed and did as she said.

After a few seconds, I felt strong arms pick me up from underneath. "Quinn!"

She didn't reply, and before I knew what was happening, she had let me go. My back hit water, and the shock caused my eyes to open.

Quinn had thrown me into the pool.

I sputtered, trying to find an insult for her. She just laughed before saying, "Are you still hot?"

"Quinn Fabray I hate you!" I yelled at her.

She giggled. "Love you too." We both froze, staring wide-eyed at each other. It was the first time she'd said it since March and we both knew it. To remedy the silence, she stripped, revealing a bikini. Then she jumped into the pool with a perfect dive.

She resurfaced beside me, and I sighed. "What am I supposed to wear the rest of the night now that you've gotten my clothes wet?"

"Hm," she contemplated for a minute, and then said, "Nothing?" I splashed her with water, and she grinned at me before splashing back. A water fight began, and I decided that if this was what camping was like, I didn't mind it as long as I was with Quinn.

* * *

To build team unity or something like that, Rachel was throwing a party on the Fourth of July for the glee club. Honestly, it was probably just so she could be with both me and her _boyfriend_ on the holiday.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of her "boyfriend". Rachel refused to break up with him, stating that she won fair and square, and now I would have to endure what she went through watching me date Finn. It was insanely stupid, but Rachel just said she needed to date _someone_ while I couldn't date for a year, and dating Finn would boost team unity.

I was really sick of "team unity" by the time the party rolled around.

At the party, I mostly sulked in a corner as I watched Rachel flit around to all the different people. She spent quite a lot of time with Matt, which was understandable seeing as he was moving in a week.

After a while, Puck joined me.

"Hey," he said, coming up and handing me a drink.

"What does this have in it?" I questioned, knowing better than to just drink something from Puck.

"Nothing, it's just Diet Coke, I swear," he replied. "You know the Berry men did a search of everyone for alcohol before we were allowed in the backyard."

I took a test sip. Sure enough, it was what he had described. "I wasn't searched."

He snorted. "Yeah, cause you're a girl. You're not gonna try to bring in booze."

"Bet Santana was searched," I stated, and he laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He took a sip of his drink before speaking again. "But if she wanted to sneak something in, all she'd have to do is hide it on Brittany."

"True."

We were silent for a while before he spoke up again.

"You know why she's doing this, don't you, Q?" he asked, having caught me staring at Rachel as she fawned over Finn.

"And why is that?" I questioned, wanting to hear his insight.

"Same reason she dated Jesse. She's done taking your shit, and she wants you to do something about it. Better not wait around as long this time before you date her, or it'll be even worse."

"Who said I planned on dating her? What if I just want to be friends?" It was about the furthest thing from the truth, and he knew it.

"Q, please. You've never wanted to be just friends with her. Never will," he said. "Just be careful. She's not going to wait around forever."

I nodded, and then Rachel looked over at me. She smirked, and I knew I had just gotten caught staring, so I gave her a small smile. She excused herself from her conversation with Finn, Matt, and Artie before heading in my direction.

"Quick, change the topic," I whispered.

"To what?"

"I don't know! Anything!"

When Rachel walked up to us, Puck had just started babbling about the first world in Super Mario World. He trailed off into silence when he noticed that Rachel wasn't paying him any attention, having only eyes for me.

"Hey," she said to me.

"Hey."

"My dads are about to start the fireworks, and I thought you and I could go watch them on the roof," she suggested.

I looked over at Puck, who motioned for me to answer. "Um yeah. That sounds great." I handed off my drink to Puck.

She beamed. "Okay! Let's go." Rachel took my hand and led me inside. "We're going through my window," she explained as we climbed the staircase.

We somehow managed to make it onto her roof in one piece. I don't know why Rachel thought this was a good idea, as she almost fell off twice, but we survived.

"So why did you bring me up here?" I asked once we had gotten situated.

"You didn't look very happy," she replied simply.

I sighed, glancing down at my hands. "I wasn't. I know I can't dictate who you date since we're only friends and I'm the one who's keeping us that way, but it still doesn't make me very happy to see you hanging all over Finn. And yes, I know that's selfish, which is why I haven't really voiced this since now."

"Quinn," she started, and I looked up into her eyes. "It's alright to be selfish. You know I am a lot of the time. I'm not trying to force you out of the closet, or to have romantic feelings for me again. That's not what I'm doing with him. I will wait on you," she promised. "And if we have to play stupid games to pass the time then I will."

"You do know I still have romantic feelings for you, right?" I said, and she smiled.

"Yeah, I kind of had a feeling."

I knew I shouldn't do it, but she was smiling at me and I just felt so loved in that moment. So I kissed her.

Even though it wasn't a very long kiss before I came to my senses of what I was getting back into and ran away, it was too late. The game had started again.

* * *

**Song: Up And Up by Relient K**

**A/N: ****The fluff has returned. Enjoy it while you can.**

**So, I'm going on summer break. I'll be back posting on this story the first Saturday in September! In the meantime, why not read one of my other stories, especially the new ones I'm going to start posting soon? I would really love your input on them. If you're sick and tired of my work, though, I have a faberry fic rec on my tumblr. And if you want to know some real angst, that way my story won't be even comparable on the angst meter, go check out sulkygeek's stories, especially Maneuvering Landmines, over on livejournal. **

**I think I'm going to split the story here. After all, the original acting challenge is over with. The next part that chronicles season two will be most likely called Happy Medium after the song by Julia Nunes. If you go listen to it you'll get an idea of what you're going to be dealing with when I start posting. Lots more angst, but it won't be a complete angst-fest until after the Christmas chapter.**

**And if you want to stop reading here, that's cool. I wrote the end of this chapter like it was just for the people who would stop reading. There's your happy ending. Thanks for reading. And for the people that will join me for Happy Medium, make sure to follow me to be alerted when I post it.**


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